


it's not supposed to hurt

by vilevulture



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Cutting, Dream is 16, Dream is popular, Dream isn't doing very good but he's not as off the rails as Techno, Eating Disorders, Highschool AU, M/M, Original male character is 17/18, PTSD, Philza adopted his children, Philza is like 40 or something idk, Suicidal Thoughts, Techno is 16, Techno is straight up traumatized, Techno is the quiet kid, The abuse/non-con is not between Dream and Techno, This is written on a mobile phone so formatting is shady af, Tommy is 14, Trans Male Character, Trans Techno, Tubbo is 14, Wilbur is 16, also i love y'all <3, if any of the tags trigger you please please don't read :(, just read it and you'll find out, philza is a good dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:07:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 25
Words: 27,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28127370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vilevulture/pseuds/vilevulture
Summary: Techno lives with a monster who his brother befriended years ago. No one knows what really goes on behind the closed doors.Dream, well, he just has a small crush on the edgy pink-haired kid. Not that he'd ever be brave enough to make a move. Right?
Relationships: Clay | Dream/Dave | Technoblade, Dave | Technoblade & Phil Watson, Dave | Technoblade & TommyInnit, Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Dave | Technoblade/Original Male Character, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Comments: 547
Kudos: 734





	1. prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> how techno's life went from shit, to good, to shit again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayo- this is my first fanfiction other than probably some shady shipping shit i wrote when i was like 11. This story has been bouncing around in my head, so I figured I'd write it.  
> I'm still kinda figuring out writing, especially on ao3, so feedback and tips are welcome!!  
> I hope you enjoy :)
> 
> tw for this chapter: rape, sexual abuse, cutting, physical abuse, manipulation, and possibly other stuff along those lines. stay safe babes <3

_Techno wasn't doing good. He hasn't been doing good for a long time now. His life started rough. Up until the age of five he was tossed around various trap houses that his biological parents rotated between. But he didn't remember most of yelling and overdosing gifted by his parents, his brain blocking out most of his memory. Which was fine by him. He didn't care to remember that part of his life. Things got much better though. He was adopted by a nice man named Philza. Philza didn't question him when he told him he was a boy, just with the wrong body. He accepted Techno as his son. He met his new sibling, Wilbur, who was the same age as him. Wilbur had been with Philza for a year already._

_Techno and Wilbur got along well, becoming essentially best friends. Partners in crime, their father called them. They frequently found themselves getting into all kinds of trouble together. And hell- it was amazing. They were so close. A few years later when Techno was around eight, Philza adopted a new kid. Tommy. Techno found him annoying, but basically instantly accepted him as a little brother. He never had an issue with worrying about blood-relation. His family were the people that loved him and took care of him. So now, his family was Philza, Wilbur, and Tommy. He took it for granted. How happy and safe he was._

_When Techno was twelve Wilbur made a friend. Steve. Steve was almost two years older than them. Steve was loved by Philza and Wilbur. Techno thought he was okay, until everything started. Steve was at their house a lot, sometimes staying over for days or a week at a time. He had become a frequent visitor at their house for nearly a month before he touched Techno for the first time._

_Everyone had gone to bed, except Techno (being a night owl), who was up watching tv in the living room. All the lights were off, the only source illuminating the room coming from the television. The younger albino boy jumped when he felt the couch dip suddenly, a bit too close for comfort. He looked over, a slight frown on his face. "Hey Steve." He mumbled quietly, before looking back at the tv. He distantly heard the other give a greeting back, but he was too invested in the tv program to hear or care. He felt a sudden clammy warmth on his thigh, causing him to jump and let out a noise of surprise. He looked down at the hand, before following the arm up to meet Steve's eyes. "What-" He had tried to speak before Steve moved, his other hand now covering Techno's mouth. The albino felt panic building, but he was frozen. It wasn't like he could fight back against Steve anyway. The other was much taller and stronger, partially thanks to age._

_The rest of his memory from that point out was fuzzy, just the distant sound of a tv speaker and the sensation of tears running down his face while Steve touched him, exploring his body like it was some toy to play with, muttering things and letting out quiet groans that Techno tried not to listen to, despite the fact that Steve's mouth was right next to his ear. Techno had snapped out of his trance, eyes finally leaving the wall he had been staring at. He was alone again. The tv was off. The room was dark. He was shaking. He touched his face, feeling tears he hadn't realized he was crying. He moved his head, squinting at the clock. It was almost 3 a.m. now. He shakily stood, walking to Philza's room, trying to be as quiet as possible. He walked in, asking his father quietly if he could sleep with him for the night. Of course Philza said yes, simply scooting over and opening the covers for Techno to crawl into next to him. He had to wear a turtleneck the next day to cover the hickeys left across his neck and shoulders. He scratched his thighs and his arms and his chest and his stomach until he bled and he was covered in angry red lines. Despite all of that, he could still feel his skin crawling. He could still feel Steve touching him. It only got worse from there._

_Techno was thirteen the first time Steve violated him completely. A couple of times before Steve had slid his fingers inside of Techno, but this time, he forced his penis into Techno, despite how dry the other had been. Philza had taken Tommy out to go to the park or something, and Wilbur was sleeping in another room. Techno cried and whined into the hand covering his mouth, the pain unbearable. It burned. It burned so bad. He tried to fight at first, but now he had no strength left. All he could think about was how bad it hurt. The whole time, start to finish, Techno had whimpered out pleas, begging the other to stop, even when they were inaudible due to being muffled. When Steve was done he just left Techno there to curl into himself and sob. The albino hated the guilt and the shame and the fucking pain washing over him in thick waves. He couldn't bring himself to go to Philza that time. Or any time after that. He couldn't bring himself to go to anyone. He felt so disgusting. He could never tell anyone. Not only because of Steve's threats, but also because they would never be able to look at him the same. As Steve had told him nearly every time, all of this was Techno's fault._

_He was thirteen and a little under a half the first time Steve hit him hard. He had fought the other, not ready to be fucked again after only a day. Steve had slapped him, several times. Then he choked him. Techno tried not to fight back after that instance, because after Steve had his way with him that specific time he couldn't really walk the next day. He had to fake sick since he couldn't stand, let alone go about a normal day._

_When he was fourteen Steve cut him for the first time. He had walked into Techno's room, going to sit in front of him on the bed, a pencil sharpener blade held between his fingers. Techno had fought him the night before again, and it had been a repeat of last time. Although this time Steve came back to punish him the next day as well. He grabbed Techno's wrist, pulling up his sleeve roughly. The albino winced, letting out a quiet whimper. His wrists were bruised and ached from being frequently squeezed and grabbed by Steve. The taller didn't even say anything as he sliced Techno's wrist, cutting straight lines a couple of centimeters apart all the way up to his elbow before finally stopping. Like usual, he left Techno to cry alone and pick up the pieces by himself._

_After a couple more of encounters like that, all Steve had to say was 'Give me your arm', to which Techno would hold out his arm for Steve to clamp his hand around. Then he would cut him. It was almost a routine at this point. When Techno was fifteen he had begun to truly feel dead inside. He was distant to everyone. His family. Who he used to be so close with. He didn't speak hardly, and when he did it was monotone and bland. Philza tried to talk to him several times of course, but Techno just brushed him off and shortly assured him everything was fine. Even if it really, really wasn't. That same year Steve moved in with them. Steve didn't have a good family, so of course saint Philza took him in._

_Techno is sixteen now. He dyed his nearly-white albino hair pink. He doesn't have any friends. Steve probably wouldn't allow it. Techno feels so trapped. And useless. And alone. He wants Steve to die nearly as much as he himself wants to die._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feel free to leave feedback or anything <3


	2. the golden retriever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! as always i hope you enjoy this chapter :)
> 
> tw for this chapter: insinuated sexual threats, anxiety, and other things along those lines. stay safe and drink some water <3

Techno sat in class, paying more attention to the sleeves of his red hoodie than whatever the teacher was talking about or writing on the board. He should probably be taking notes, but he's not. He can't find a reason to. His brain is blank, thankfully. As long as he's not thinking about Steve, he's okay. And he typically pulls c's and b's in his class without putting in effort, so he's fine.

Although his partial peace of mind changed pretty quickly when he felt his phone buzz from where he kept it during class under his thigh. He glanced at the teacher to make sure they weren't watching, before checking the message. His breath stuttered a little when he read the contact name, which he had just put in plainly as 'Steve'. He wasn't sure what he expected. It's not like he has friends to text him. But that never stopped it from rattling him up when Steve messaged.

[Steve: We're going to talk after school today :)]

Techno's heart sank lower and lower as he read the text and let the words roll around in his mind. He knows what that means. Steve is bored, or horny, or both. He tries to push away his dread for this evening. He normally doesn't have to see Steve during school since he's a couple grade levels above him. So at least he could have his peace for the next few hours.

He turned off his phone, letting himself stare off distantly again, trying to blank his mind. Of course now it's harder, and he's thinking about some memories that he really doesn't want to.

Eventually the bell rings, pulling Techno out of his spiraling thoughts. His next class is pe, in which he just sits on the bleachers while the teacher watches movies on his computer. It's nice to not have to do work, but at the same time, it's almost too much freedom. He doesn't have anything to occupy him.

He slides his textbook back into his backpack, zipping it up and pulling it over one shoulder before making his way through the hall to the gymnasium. It was cold today so they'd probably use the inside bleachers. He stares towards the end of the hallway, avoiding eye contact with anyone as much as possible, when he feels a hand poke his shoulder softly. He knew from the gentle nature of it that it couldn't be Steve, though it still caused him to jump. No one really talked to him, since he actively tried to be unapproachable. It had worked, at least until now.

"Hey, are you headed to gym?" Techno turned his head towards the owner of the almost innocent sounding voice, who was apparently nearly a foot taller than him. He glanced up into his green eyes, which held several different shades of green, and even some gold and yellowish tones. Next he noticed the freckles across his face- there were so many- and they looked so perfect. The taller boy's skin was a warm tanned color, his sandy blond curls hanging a bit above his eyes. 

Techno blinked, realizing he had been staring for a short while. He cleared his throat, quickly breaking eye contact to stare ahead of himself again. "Yeah, I am." he replied dryly. This kid looked way too popular to associate with him. Even the weird kids didn't associate with Techno. He wasn't outright mean or rude (or he usually tried not to be), he just acted monotone and bland until people left him alone, so eventually people stopped trying with him altogether.

"Oh cool, me too." The boy smiled, which Techno could see from the corner of his eye. He fought the urge to look over to see the smile in its wholeness. He didn't need to be getting attached to anyone or interested in them. That's the last thing he needs. So he doesn't reply, he just continues walking and hopes that the green eyed jock will take the hint and go find something better to do.

"I'm Dream." He said after a moment of silence, still watching Techno despite the other's blatant indifference. The taller male remained quiet for a few seconds, waiting for the albino to reply. Though no sound came. "Whats your name?" he asked, hoping to prompt some sort of conversation. 

Techno pushed open the doors to the gym, holding the door open for Dream to walk in behind him. He was just so nice, and he was the human embodiment of a golden retriever, Techno couldn't blame himself for not being able to let the door close in Dream's face. The shorter male tried to ignore how happy Dream looked that Techno held the door for him.

The pink haired boy continued walking, glancing to his side again and sighing, before huffing out a quiet "Techno." He quickly checked in with the pe teacher, before climbing the bleachers to sit in the corner where he normally did. He briefly wondered why this clearly athlete of a boy was moved to pe, in the middle of the year. But he wasn't about to prompt conversation that wasn't necessary. Speaking of this athlete boy, he followed Techno to sit next to him. Jesus christ, he's persistent.

"I'm supposed to be in athletics right now but my grades are too low. I've been skipping class too much or something." Dream spoke to fill the silence. Techno really wanted to be annoyed at the blond, to snap and tell him to leave or something, but he couldn't find it in himself to do so. He actually liked hearing his calming voice, and someone just talking to him in general felt nice. After a second of fighting himself he looked around quickly. Even though Steve wasn't in this class he still felt the need to check. So Steve wasn't here. So he won't know. Techno turned to Dream to look him in the eyes as he spoke.

"The coach wants me on the team, obviously, but I have to pass my classes before they let me back on." The taller continued, smiling slightly as the pink haired boy looked him in the eyes. Techno couldn't help but wonder how this boy could manage to sound arrogant and sweet at the same time. "Some of the kids in football are assholes though." he sighed. "Hey, I like your hair. It looks really nice with your eyes." Dream spoke a bit faster than he had before, his face heating ever so slightly. He wasn't good at complimenting people he's actually attracted to.

Techno tensed a little, blinking a couple of times before breaking eye contact quickly. Steve had fucking hated his hair, and Techno had definitely got in trouble for it. Steve always made fun of his eyes too. He constantly called him a freak. Which reminded Techno, why would a conventionally attractive highschool athlete be talking to an outcast like him? This was probably all some sort of joke.

"Thanks." Techno forced out quietly, his eyes now trained on his lap. His shoulder length hair hung in front of his face, now mostly obscuring his face from Dream's view.

Dream was silent for a little while, a bit of guilt pooling up in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't meant to upset Techno, and it was clear he had touched some sort of nerve. He cleared his throat, taking his eyes off the small pinkette. Maybe watching the other like this was making him uncomfortable.

After a few beats he continued talking about random things to fill the void, sometimes pausing in case Techno wanted to add something, though he never did. After a while Dream checked his phone, realizing the class period was almost over. "Hey, can I sit with you at lunch? All my friends have B lunch since they're still in athletics." Dream watched the other patiently. Techno wondered again why the blond was being so kind. It was practically setting off his fight or flight instinct.

He had the same lunch with Steve, but he didn't sit with him, so it would probably be fine. Right? Pushing away the anxiety that shook his hands slightly and caused him to bounce his leg subtly he glanced at Dream, finally muttering out a quiet "Sure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was an okay chapter, i'm working on developing Dream and Techno's dynamic.
> 
> If you have any feedback or tips or anything feel free to leave them below :)!!


	3. lunch and the friendly reminder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws for this chapter: threats, assault, verbal abuse, eating disorders and other things along those lines. stay safe cuties 🔫
> 
> i hope you enjoy :)

Once the bell rung Techno stood, walking alongside Dream down the bleachers and through the hallways. Techno always ate outside or in the bathroom to try and distance himself from everyone as much as possible. Well, when he actually ends up eating. 

Techno led the other to the bleachers outside which he sat on, settling on a row just a couple up from the bottom. When he sat outside he either sat there or under a specific tree on the campus that he liked. 

"Thanks for letting me sit with you. I don't know anyone outside of my old lunch period." Dream sat next to him, pulling out his lunch. Techno smirked a little at that. The big athlete man was eating a lunchable.

"No problem." Techno replied, crossing his arms and pulling his legs up to rest his chin on his knees. Steve told him he was getting fat, and as much as Techno hated him, he was probably right. Most of what he said was true. He figured he could skip lunch today. Even though he had already skipped breakfast. He was used to the dull discomfort of hunger. 

After a short while of just rambling on Dream paused, realizing Techno wasn't eating. "Aren't you hungry?" Dream asked, a small frown on his face as he watched Techno. 

"What? Oh, no. I have a sandwich I'm just not hungry." Techno lied. He did in fact have a sandwich (which Philza had actually made for him), and he was actually hungry. He began to fall into a spiral of thoughts, wondering why he was never good enough. Even when he went days back to back without eating, it never seemed like enough.

He was jarred out of his thoughts by Dream nudging him softly, again causing him to startle. He looked over at Dream, who was holding out a cracker to him. "I'm okay really-" Dream cut him off, "Please, you're gonna get hungry during class or something." After a moment Techno sighed, taking the cracker and biting off half. After a few moments he ate the rest of it, glancing at Dream, who seemed satisfied as he began rambling again, this time about sports and teams he was rooting for.

Dream's smile was just too infectious, and thus it spread to Techno, who now had a small, genuine smile on his face for what felt like the first time in forever. 

"You know you can tell me to shut up if I'm annoying you right?" Dream asked with a small, nervous laugh. Techno shook his head a little, still smiling vaguely. "Keep talking-" he was about to say he liked it, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Part of him still didn't want Dream around, since he didn't really want anyone around. But he had begun to like the blond, and it was so nice to have another human to talk to other than Steve and occasionally his family.

So Dream continued talking, until Techno felt his phone buzz against his leg, causing his heart to practically stop. He grabbed his phone, looking at the new text.

[Steve: who are you talking to?]

His ears were ringing slightly, though he remained calm on the outside. On the inside though, his heart felt like it was going to explode. Not in a good way.

[Techno: wdym ]

His hands were shaky as he sent the text. He turned his head back to Dream afterwards as he waited for a reply, listening to him ramble some more, even if he couldn't really make out the words he was saying. 

[Steve: my friend saw you with someone. why?]

Techno stared at the text, his hands beginning to shake worse. He didn't know how he was supposed to reply. Shit, he's in so much trouble.

[Steve: meet me between the science building and the gym.]

Techno turned his phone off, trying to blink away the tears in his eyes. He hadn't done anything this rebellious in so long. He's so stupid. Why would he think it would be okay to do this?

"Are you okay?" Dream's worried voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Techno stood quickly, grabbing his backpack and already speed walking away. "I have to go." Techno didn't look back at him as he spoke. He heard Dream calling after him, but he continued walking as fast as he could. Once he was out of Dream's sight he started running, trying to get to where Steve told him to be. He knew Steve would be fucking pissed if it took him too long.

However, of course Steve was already standing there in the small ally created by the space between the two buildings. Isn't that just Techno's luck? He stopped running, out of breath as he wrapped his arms around himself, avoiding eye contact with Steve, who's eyes seemed to bore a hole into his head. He could see the cigarette smoke from his peripheral vision. He could smell it too.

He was only slightly caught off guard when Steve grabbed him by the throat, slamming him against the wall. He already felt lightheaded from running, and now that his airflow was restricted he could see black spots dancing in front of his eyes. It didn't help that his head was throbbing from being slammed against a brick wall.

"So you decided to make some friends, yeah?" Steve asked, his breath a little heavy, the anger evident in the way his jaw clenched when he was done speaking. He took a puff of his cigarette, blowing the smoke into Techno's eyes. It burned. Techno shook his head a little, tears sliding from the corners of his eyes as he just tried to get enough air to stay conscious, his hands pulling weakly at the hand around his throat.

"Don't lie to me." Steve slapped him in response to the faint fighting back, causing Techno to quickly lower his hands and stop pulling at Steve's. Instead he held on tightly to his own hoodie, faint and breathy cries coming from his squeezed throat.

"I think you already knew I was having a hard day, so why would you go and do this?" Steve squeezed his throat harder for a few seconds before pushing him to the ground. Techno's face slid against the concrete, a couple droplets of blood making their way to the surface as his hands massaged his fucked up throat. He tried to catch his breath, but it was made even harder as Steve put one of his feet on Techno's chest, pushing a bit of his weight on it. Techno's chest was already constricted too because of the binder he was wearing.

"I'm- I-'m sorry-" Techo's voice was scratchy and wheezy as he spoke. He felt like he was going to pass out. His head hurt so bad now. Steve leaned over, his foot still planted on Techno as he grabbed his chin and moved his head so Techno practically had to make eye contact.

"You're always sorry. You never actually fix anything. That kid doesn't want to be your friend. Or he won't, once he gets to know you. No one puts up with you except me, haven't you figured that out by now?" Techno felt fresh tears building. It hurt, because it was true. No one wanted to be Techno's friend. Maybe Dream did now, but he wouldn't soon once he got to know Techno. The albino wondered why he hadn't just told Dream to leave him alone.

Steve stares at Techno for a while, watching him cry. He took a final drag from his cigarette, before putting it out on Techno's jawline below his ear. He dropped the cigarette butt on the ground, turning to walk away, finally letting go of Techno's face and stepped off of his chest. 

"I'll see you after school." He called back, walking away and leaving Techno to cry, staring up at the overcast sky. It was that time of year where it was always rainy. 

Techno missed next period, just sitting in the back of the alleyway. A janitor had walked by at one point, making brief eye contact with him, before just continuing on their way. He let himself cry for a while, though he tried to be quiet enough so no one would hear him. Even if they did hear him it's probably not like they'd care anyway.

He sighed, actually drifting off to sleep after a little while. He woke up to the last bell of the day, wiping his tear stained face and pulling his hoodie up over his head. He made sure to look at the ground so no one could see his fucked up face.

He walked out front where Philza normally picked them up, only to see Wilbur behind the wheel, Tommy in the passenger seat, and of course Steve sitting in the back. Techno hesitated for a few seconds. He really didn't want to sit next to Steve, but he had no choice really. He felt a couple of rain droplets fall on him, prompting him to open the door and get in.

"Dad said we can start driving eachother since we have our licenses." Wilbur explained, pulling through the parking lot and eventually onto the road.

Steve moved Techno's backpack so it was in his lap and no one could see his hand resting rather high up on the pinkette's thigh. He squeezed occasionally, suppressing his smirk at the way Techno would tense up even more than he had before, blinking away tears as he stared out the window and watched the rain begin to fall.

Techno could distantly hear Steve and Wilbur having a conversation, though he was once again detaching from the situation, emptying his brain as much as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh next chapter is not gonna be a good time for techno. as always, feel free to leave your feedback or tips!! i really enjoy you guys's comments :)


	4. disgusting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omfg so- this is my second time writing this chapter cause i accidentally deleted my first draft so that sucks
> 
> but anyways, i hope you enjoy
> 
> tws for this chapter: basically everything in the tags- this chapter is pretty fucked up so stay safe angels <3

Normally Techno would be relieved that they were home. Since he no longer had to deal with Steve's hand against his thigh. But he knew that now that they were home it was only a matter of time until Steve did whatever he wanted.

Once Wilbur parked the car Techno got out quickly, walking fast. Partially because it was raining, and partially because he wanted to put as much distance between him and everyone else as possible. He felt like shit, even more than he usually did.

When he entered the house he heard his father call out some sort of greeting from the kitchen. Techno muttered a quiet 'hey' back, before continuing to rush to his room. He closed his door behind him and sat his backpack in the corner, trying to hold back his tears. Nothing was even happening to cause him to cry at the moment, and that's what pissed him off so much. He wished he could just save his tears for later.

He made his way to the bathroom, grabbing a washcloth and wetting it with some warm water. He touched it gingerly to the scrapes on his face, although he quickly pulled it back, grimacing slightly. It stung, a lot. But he was honestly pretty used to things stinging at this point. He finally went through with it, scrubbing off the excess dried blood on his face. He considered taking a shower, but there wasn't really a point since he would have to take one later tonight too.

He went to lay down on his bed after grabbing the blanket that he had draped across the end. He didn't feel like messing up his covers. He curled up, staring at the dark wall. His bedroom light was off, so the only light was shining from the bathroom. Even though it was still somewhat early in the evening the sky was far too clouded with rain for the sun to shine. The albino's anxiety compounded by the second. He hated just waiting here with nothing to do but wonder when Steve would finally get around to fucking him up.

He wiped his tears, letting his mind drift off to Dream. He let his brain run back through all of the random things he had spoken about. In all honestly, Techno sort of wished the other was here. It was so calming to just listen to him talk and talk and talk. Dream had a nice voice. Techno smiled faintly even as he cried. Along with his voice, Dream had the most expressive facials. It was just so easy to think about Dream for a long time.

But of course that eventually had to end as he heard his door swing open. He tensed, his hands shaking as his tears quickened slightly. He curled up tighter in his ball as he heard the door close and footsteps making their was over to him. A few seconds later though he sat up, not wanting to make Steve any angrier than he already had.

He looked up at Steve tiredly and fearfully, who just stared back at him coldly before sitting down across from him on the bed and holding out his hand expectantly. "Give me your arm." Techno shook harder as he stretched his arm out towards Steve, who clamped onto his wrist. He flinched when the other pulled his sleeve up roughly. He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his free hand, only for fresh tears to run down his face as Steve began cutting the straight lines into his skin with the pencil sharpener blade. He continued staring at the floor, letting out quiet cries and whines.

Eventually he began with his apologies, stuttering them out. But Steve just shook his head, the small smile present on his face. Techno hated how much the other enjoyed his pain. "You know you deserve this." Steve spoke unkindly as he continued slicing cuts into Techno's pale arm. "I know." Techno agreed in a whisper, feeling even more like shit than he already had. He let out a loud yelp when Steve pressed his thumb against several of the cuts, his expression now angry. "Say it." Techno took a few unhelpful breaths before he tried to speak. "I d- ah- I deserve i-it." He continued letting out shaky cries, a small wave of relief washing over him when Steve finally let go of his wrist, seemingly satisfied.

Steve wiped the blood from his hand on Techno's lips, smearing it around the shorter male's mouth with that same small smile. He set the blade aside, pulling Techno's hoodie off and unclasping his binder before pushing him down to lay on the bed under Steve. Techno's break grew even more concerningly uneven as he tried to focus on a corner of the ceiling rather than Steve, who was taking off his pants. 

He then heard Steve undressing himself, tensing up further as he wished he was just about anywhere else but here. He didn't fight Steve when he pushed his legs apart though. He didn't fight him when he grabbed Techno's hips roughly, thrusting into him all at once.

Techno let out a muffled half-scream into his own elbow as he tried to cope with the pain of feeling like his insides were being ripped apart. He cried and sobbed, though he didn't bother begging Steve to stop. It wouldn't do him any good. If anything, it would spur the taller man on. He clearly got off on Techno's suffering.

He finally let go of Techno's hips, instead using one of his hands to grab both of Techno's wrist, the other wrapping around the albino's already bruised throat. He let out strangled cries of pain, trying to ignore the brutal pace that clearly didn't take him into account at all.

When Steve was finally done he just left like usual, without any further words. Techno laid there for a good thirty minutes, just trying to get his breathing back to a reasonable speed. When he finally did catch his breath he tried to move his legs and sit up, but he quickly stopped when pain shot through his body like a wave of electricity. He laid back down, moving one of his hands, unsurprised when it came back up bloody. What had he expected?

After roughly another half hour he finally got the strength to stand, immediately stumbling over to the wall for balance, his legs feeling like jello underneath him. He nearly threw up at the feeing if warm blood and come trickling out of him and down the inside of his thighs. He staggered to the bathroom, gripping the sink for support as he closed the door behind him and locked it. He eventually looked up at himself in the mirror. He looked like shit. He looked at the blood smeared around his mouth. Then the scrapes on the side of his face. Then the cigarette burn on his jaw. Then the bruises on his neck. Then the bruises and cuts on his wrists. Then the ones on his hips. 

He turned on the sink and the shower and the fan to create noise so he could cry loudly without worrying about anyone hearing him. After a little while of shaking and sobbing he finally ended up throwing up into the toilet, flushing it and sitting on the floor for a while.

Techno got in the shower, wincing at the way it stung. He slid down to sit on the floor, starting to cry again as he let the water wash over his face. He watched the blood turn the floor of the shower red before it washed down the drain.

He felt so, so worthless. And disgusting. But like Steve had said, he deserved this. He didn't exactly want to kill himself, but he really wished he hadn't been born.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eeee it'll get better for techno eventually i promise :,,(
> 
> anyways, as always, feel free to leave feedback!! i love when y'all do :)


	5. phone number

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws for this chapter: suicidal thoughts, mentions of abuse, and stuff like that. stay safe and drink some water because i know at least one of y'all mfs is dehydrated 
> 
> anyways i hope you enjoy :)

Techno really did not want to go to school the next day. But of course he had to. He even had to wake up early to give himself time to cover his injuries with makeup. Although he couldn't really cover the scrape. It would be pretty believable if he just said that he tripped and fell though.

He hated wearing makeup. It really fucked with his gender dysphoria. But it was better than trying to explain why there was a whole bruising hand print on his throat. He stared at himself in the mirror for a while, pondering how things had even got to this point. He really hated his life. He missed being able to talk to his family. But he always stayed in his room to avoid prompting any attention from Steve. He tested up a little as he realized he couldn't remember the last time he hugged his father. Or any of his family. Or told them he loved them. 

He blinked his tears away, going to put on his red converse and hoodie jacket. He grabbed his backpack, walking to the door, his hand just over the handle when he felt someone grab his arm, then say his name. His fight or flight kicked off and he flinched, pulling his arm away. He felt bad once he looked over and realized it was just Wilbur. "Yeah?" he replied as he looked up at his giant of a brother, taking a small step back to put distance between them.

His brother gave him a strange look, his eyes confused as to why Techno had reacted like that. He quickly brushed it off though, assuming his brother had just been deep in thought and he caught him off guard. "Aren't you going to eat?" Wilbur asked, tilting his head a little. Techno froze for a few seconds, before shrugging casually. "We should probably head to school so we're not late. I'm not hungry anyways." Techno opened the door, only for Wilbur to close it. It made Techno jump a little again, but he played it off, just looking back at his brother with a bit of an exasperated expression.

"Tommy's not ready yet anyw-" Wilbur was cut off by the blond gremlin himself jumping down the stairs, skipping the last few steps.

"Morning Dadza," he called loudly as he walked to the kitchen to grab his lunch. He emerged with his and Techno's, handing the bag to his older, pink haired brother. "Goodmorning gentlemen." He opened the door, walking out after his brothers did. Wilbur obviously went to the drivers seat, leaving Tommy to jump into the passengers side. 

Techno hesitantly crawled into the car next to Steve, who was sat in the back. He brought his knees up to his chest, staring out the window as he tried not to think about last night, and the fact that his abuser was inches away.

Halfway through the drive he heard Tommy gasp loudly and turn around in his seat. "Jesus christ Techno, what happened to your fa-" he was reaching for Techno's face, only for the other the recoil, turning his head away slightly in a defensive posture. He quickly shifted to face Tommy once he realized he had just fucked up for the second time that day. Tommy stayed silent, blinking at Techno's reaction.

Wilbur looked in the rear view, his eyebrows drawing together slightly when he noticed the side of Techno's face that he hadn't seen before. "Yeah, what happened?" Techno rolled his eyes at his brothers, like they were being dramatic. "I fell down the stairs outside school." he stared out the window silently for the rest of the drive, not listening to any conversations that followed. Thankfully, Steve left him alone.

He drifted through his day basically on auto pilot, not listening in any of his classes, as usual. As suspected he had a small limp, though he figured that could just go with his stairs story.

His head was pretty much empty other than some mild thoughts of wondering what it would be like if he just didn't exist. Everyone would probably be better off.

He walked to pe, not really thinking about Dream. His head was just too empty, and he felt a million miles away. At least it was better than replaying all of his memories in his head over and over.

Dream wasn't there when he got to pe, and Techno didn't know if he was sad or relieved at the realization. Maybe Dream was back in athletics already and he could just go on with his life and pretend his interaction with the outcast albino never happened.

He stared at his lap, picking at a thread numbly on the sleeve of his jacket. 

"Hey!" He jumped, his eyes shooting up to the sort-of familiar voice. 

"Dream?" Techno frowned a little. He didn't want to have to deal with Steve finding he was talking to Dream again. But then he smiled- because he really enjoyed Dream's presence. 

"What happened to your face?" Dream bent over a little to get a better look at the large scrape, his face scrunched up in concern. "I fell down some stares and slid." He gave a small smile that didn't even come close to reaching his eyes.

"Oh... Anyways, sorry I'm late, me and Sapnap almost got in trouble for wrestling in the bathroom and we had to convince the principal we were actually just shitting a bunch." That prompted a small smile from the pinkette. He didn't know Sapnap or why him and Dream were having a wrestling match, but it was funny to him. Dream sat down next to Techno, somewhat close. Techno tensed up a little, but the longer he adjusted to it the more he realized he didn't mind. He didn't mind being close to Dream, apart from the instincts in the back of his head telling him to push anyone and everyone away.

"Why did you run off so quick yesterday?" Dream asked randomly, turning to look at Techno. His leg now brushed against Techno's causing the other to blank for a second while he adjusted to the sensation. Yeah, maybe not having real physical contact with anyone but his tormentor was affecting him.

"I eh- I just forgot that I was supposed to talk to a teacher before class and the classroom is a little ways across campus." He lied quickly, tugging at his sleeves. He had to resist the urge to scratch his itchy, healing wrist.

"Oh." Dream said simply, his eyes lingering on Techno's face. "By the way, can I have your number?" Like before, his words came faster as a sign of his nerves. Techno looked down at his hands. 

'He wants my number? He wants to talk to me?' Techno cut his thoughts short quickly. It's just because Dream hasn't had to put up with him for long enough yet. He'll tire of Techno eventually. Even so, Techno found himself nodding and putting his number in Dream's phone.

After the exchange Dream continued on with his rambling. Techno even added a couple of thoughts very occasionally. He smiled a few times too.

"Can I sit with you at lunch again?" Dream asked. Techno stared at his face for a few seconds. Dream always just looked so- oblivious? Techno wasn't sure what word fit. And his eyes were always so warm.

"Oh I-... I have to go talk to that teacher again at lunch." He shook himself out of his thoughts, trying to ignore the guilt he felt for lying to Dream like that. And the small pit of dread as he wondered if the blond would get angry at him. He really didn't want that to happen.

"That's okay. I'll text you later?" Dream smiled, shrugging. Techno let out a quiet breath he hadn't realized he was holding as his shoulders untensed. 

The bell rang, prompting the two boys to stand. "Yeah, sure. See ya," Techno gave a small wave as he walked off to go sit in the bathroom for the whole lunch period so he didn't have to deal with worrying about anyone watching him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter is probably gonna be a relatively happy one so yay
> 
> feedback? critique? feel free to comment whatever you want! love y'all :)


	6. the call and the call out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: mentions of cutting and abuse, ya know, stay safe and make sure you eat today
> 
> i hope you enjoy :)

When Techno made his way to Wilbur's car at the end of the day, practically dragging his feet, the first thing he noticed was that Steve wasn't there. He got into the car, buckling his seatbelt before making eye contact with Wilbur in the rear view. "Where's Steve?" Techno asked, trying to sound casual, even though he couldn't hardly contain the happiness he felt. 

"He went home with his friend to stay the night cause they have a project to do, I think." Wilbur was oblivious to Techno's excitement. He couldn't believe that he wouldn't have to worry about Steve for a whole night. And even better, he had exchanged phone numbers with Dream earlier today. Despite the dull stinging pain still throbbing through the entire bottom half of his body every few minutes, he couldn't find a reason to not be happy. He only vaguely acknowledged that he shouldn't be so scared of another person that them being gone for a day brought him so much joy.

Once they got back to the house Techno went to the living room, actually taking a little bit of time to have a casual conversation with his father and two siblings. They had all noticed Techno's sudden change of mood, but they hadn't connected it to Steve's absence.

After maybe an hour or so of just chatting everyone finally split up to go do their own thing. Techno went to his room, pulling out his phone to see a text from around ten minutes ago. 

[???: hiiiiii :D]

Techno smiled brightly at the text, putting his hand over his mouth as he read it a couple of times over. After a moment of just allowing himself to be happy he put the contact name in as 'Dreamy💚'. He then finally replied.

[Techno: hello :)]

He doubted whether he should send the smiley face or not, but he eventually decided in favor of it. He smiled as he turned on the light and laid down on his bed, waiting for a reply.

[Dreamy💚: do you wanna go on call?]

Techno took a deep breath, before replying with a quick 'yes' and plugging in his headphones. He pressed the call button at the top of his screen, anxiously waiting for Dream to pick up.

Dream actually answered pretty quickly. "Hi Techno!" Techno had to put his hand over his mouth again, desperately trying to calm himself. He could practically hear the smile in Dream's voice. Even though he figured the blond would eventually become fed up with him, he could still enjoy this... friendship... while it lasted.

"Hey Dream." He replied finally, turning up his volume so Dream's voice was louder in his ears. He stared up at the ceiling, playing with a random strand of his hair. 

"How was your day?" Dream asked, and Techno could hear shuffling on the other end of the line like Dream was moving to get more comfortable. That made Techno smile again. "It was good." he replied, and he actually kind of meant it. Of course it wasn't amazing when you're limping around and hiding injuries with makeup, but all things considered it was a good day. "How about you?" And with that they descended into the usual ramblings of Dream. Although it was much easier for Techno to add to the conversation since they weren't face to face, and since he felt a little more comfortable with Dream.

They talked for a couple of hours, before Dream sighed a little sadly and told Techno that he had to go soon.

"Do you want to hang out tomorrow? After school?" The words came out at a fast pace. Techno slapped his hand over his mouth, which Dream could hear over the phone, though he didn't bring it up. The albino had to pause for a second again to compose himself. After having a couple of real conversations, Dream still wanted to remain in contact with Techno. So he hasn't scared him off yet.

"That sounds great." He smiled happily. He wished Steve was gone all the time. It made everything so much easier.

After him and Dream said their goodbyes he went downstairs to be with his family again. Philza wasn't there, but Tommy and Wilbur were sitting in front of the coffee table, playing a card game. "What're you guys playing?" He asked as he walked over to them, sitting next to Tommy. "Uno." Wilbur replied rather focused on the game. Techno was quiet for a few seconds. He really didn't want to be annoying, but he wanted to spend time with his brothers. "Can I play next round?" He stared at the table while he asked, rather than his brothers.

Tommy quickly reached out to grab all the cards and put them back in one deck. "Yeah, Wilbur was cheating so he should just start over." He shuffled them. "I was not!" Wilbur slapped the back of Tommy's head. Even though it wasn't hard and Wilbur didn't mean anything by it, Techno still found himself wincing slightly at the sound and action. His brothers didn't seem to notice though, too busy with bickering.

Tommy dealt the cards out with Wilbur watching like a hawk, convinced that their little brother was going to cheat somehow. They started playing, laying the cards down like usual and occasionally letting out frustrated groans when they'd get a skip card played on them.

One time though, Techno's sleeve came up when he reached out to lay a card down. Tommy's hand shot out quickly, snatching Techno's wrist and pulling his sleeve up. The albino panicked, partially because of the situation, and partially because someone pulling his sleeve up just triggered his fight or flight in general due to what normally came afterwards.

"Techno what the hell?" Tommy sounded scared and sad as he looked between his brother's arm and face. Wilbur was watching now too, looking a tad horrified. "It's nothing." Techno pulled his arm away, trying to control his shaky voice. Before he could pull his sleeve back down Wilbur grabbed his arm this time. He whimpered out a small 'ah' in pain as Wilbur grabbed directly over the bruises. "Techno what is this?" Techno's eyes began to well up with tears as Wilbur questioned him this time.

He pulled his arm away again, this time succeeding at rolling his jacket sleeve back down. "It's uh- it's just self harm. I eh- I threw my blade away last night." He lied quickly. He was pretty sure his brothers didn't know much about self harm, so maybe he could get away with this lie. 

"Don't t-tell Dad. P-please-" He started shaking harder as he broke down in tears. Tommy started crying too after a second as he wrapping his arms around Techno tightly. Wilbur stood to walk around and hug Techno from the other side. The pinkette only cried harder now. It had been so long since he had been hugged. It was almost overwhelming to have this much physical contact at once.

Eventually Tommy rested his head on Techno's shoulder, Wilbur resting his head on top of Techno's. Even after a little while once Techno's cries had quieted his brothers still held him. He felt terrible for lying. But it seemed they had believed it? "You won't tell Dad right?" He whispered shakily, reaching up to wipe some of his tears away. Tommy and Wilbur looked at eachother for a few seconds unsurely. "We won't. You promise you really did throw your blade away?" Wilbur spoke softly. Techno nodded, relief washing over him. He's in the clear.

They stayed like that for a while, with Tommy eventually falling asleep on Techno's shoulder. Wilbur eventually picked the younger boy up, setting him on the couch without waking him. Tommy is a heavy sleeper. 

Wilbur sat down on the end of the couch, glancing at Tommy, then Techno, who still sat on the floor. "You know you can talk to me, right? I know we're not close anymore- but-... I do miss you. And I'm here for you." Wilbur didn't really bother keeping his voice down. There was no way in hell it would wake Tommy up.

Techno nodded quietly, standing up, trying to hide his wince due to the aching and stinging in his body. "Thanks, Wilbur. I'll see you later." he patted Wilbur as he walked by and to his room. He contemplating telling Wilbur he loved him, but he couldn't bring himself to do it for some reason.

After changing into some more comfortable clothes he finally crawled into bed. He was so tired. From lack of eating, lack of sleep, and the recent interaction. He fell asleep quickly, actually feeling somewhat okay. He would get to see Dream tomorrow. He had gotten a real hug earlier. He had a small smile on his face as he drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter or so will probably be happy too but it's gonna go real downhill soon ;(


	7. how's the view?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: super vague mention of abuse. this is a pretty happy chapter :))
> 
> i hope y'all enjoy this and remember to drink some damn water <3

The next day was good too. It was so much easier to be at peace when Steve wasn't in the same house as him. He still had to wake up early to touch up the makeup, but he felt more rested than he had in a long time.

He ate a granola bar that morning, sitting on the counter as he talked to his father and brothers. Wilbur and Tommy gave him a couple of strange glances, but that was to be expected after last night's events. He felt sick after eating, the urge to make himself throw up the food rather strong. He tried to ignore it though, following his brothers to the car.

He hadn't realized how on edge he always was until now, when he was able to relax and not worry about a monster sitting next to him. He plugged his headphones in, letting some music play as he watched the houses and trees pass by outside his window.

He paid attention in some of his classes that day. When pe time came he walked a little slower in the hallway, hoping the walk to class with Dream. He didn't flinch this time when the blond greeted him energetically, since he had prepared himself for it. "Hi Techno!" He smiled, as usual. "Hey Dream." The pinkette turned his head to look up at the athlete as they walked.

"We're still on for later today right?" Dream held open the door to the gym for Techno, who thanked him quietly. 

"Of course." Techno smiled softly. They checked in with the gym teacher, before climbing the bleachers to their usual spot. After the phone call last night Techno was a lot more comfortable with Dream, so he was considerably more talkative that day.

The teacher actually told them to shut up a couple of times, due to them laughing rather loudly. Techno was honestly a little obsessed with the way Dream laughed. All of the different laughs. The wheeze, the giggle, it all made the albino so happy.

They were actually in the middle of breaking down in laugher when the bell rang for lunch. "I've gotta go see that teacher again but I'll see you after school?" Techno stood, watching Dream expectantly. Dream was staring at his face, almost looking entranced. Techno self consciously brushed some of his long hair out of his face, breaking eye contact. He didn't understand why the blond was looking at him like that.

"Oh sorry yeah uh- yeah. See you after school," he smiled, his cheeks flushing a slight pink. Techno smiled nervously, saying a quiet goodbye as he walked away to go sit in the bathroom again for lunch.

After school he walked outside, going to find Wilbur's car. He knocked on the window, waiting for his brother to roll it down. "I'm gonna hang out with a friend today. I'll see you later today." He leaned down to speak to Wilbur, glancing at Tommy who was in the passenger seat as usual.

"Okay, I'll tell Dad for you when we get home." Techno glanced over his shoulder, seeing Steve walking towards Wilbur's car. He hadn't seen the albino yet, thankfully. "Yeah so- bye," Techno rushed out, quickly walking away and not listening to Wilbur's reply. He didn't want to be by the car when Steve got there.

He stood up on a bench, trying to get a better look at the pack of students to find Dream in the crowd of tall people. Well, tall to Techno.

"How's the view?" Techno turned around to look at Dream, giving him a pretend annoyed look. "Pretty good, actually." He climbed off the bench, stumbling a little, as he was still sore. Even though Techno clearly wasn't in danger of falling, Dream still grabbed his upper arms to help steady him. The albino wasn't going to complain, though. "Thanks." he mumbled quietly, putting his hands in his pink hoodie pocket.

"No problem." Dream grabbed his hand to lead him through the thick crowd of teenagers. Techno glanced down at their hands, though he didn't pull his away. He didn't mind this, honestly.

Once they were out of the thick crowd the blond let go, eventually arriving at his car. He got in, starting the car and unlocking the passenger side for Techno. The pinkette climbed in, shutting the door behind him.

Dream rolled down the windows as he started driving, letting the cool wind blow into the car. It was a relatively warm day, the humidity accompanying the rainy sky. Techno was quiet for a while, letting the air blow through his long pink hair.

Yet again, he couldn't help but notice how peaceful he felt. He didn't notice the way Dream was having a hard time keeping his eyes off of him and the way his soft looking hair swayed around his face in the wind.

After a little bit of silence Techno finally spoke, actually starting a conversation rather than just participating in one. "So what all sports do you play?" he asked, pulling his hair back into a pony tail, which also seemed to mesmerize the blond a little. "H- uh, well I play pretty much all the sports that school offers. Football, basketball, baseball, yknow. I don't play soccer though." He let out a small nervous chuckle. "I hope you get your grades up soon so I can come watch you at a game." Techno smiled at Dream's quiet laugh. 

"That would be really cool." Dream smiled shyly, a faint blush coming across his face. Dream never had anyone come to his games to support him. Sapnap was on the team with him, George was always there anyway because he was in band, and Karl was always there because he was a cheerleader. And his parents- well he wouldn't want them to come anyways...

They drove for a short while, the houses eventually turning into more trees as they made their way onto the dirt backroads and up some hills. They arrived at a park which didn't seem abandoned, but there was no one else at it. Dream walked over to the swing set, sitting down on one and watching Techno as he went to sit on a swing next to the blond.

They talked for a while about school, and about Dream's friends, and Techno's family. Eventually it started to rain though. They both ignored it while it was just sprinkling, but eventually decided to stand up when it started falling faster.

"Wait, are you okay with getting a little wet?" Dream asked, grabbing Techno's hands excitedly. Techno blushed slightly, eventually managing a nod. The blond smiled, holding onto one of Techno's hands as he led him through some of the trees that surrounded the park. The albino wasn't sure where they were going, but he trusted Dream.

After some walking they ended up on an overlook of the city. All the distant streetlights and storefronts were bright due to the dark sky. It was actually really nice to look at. Techno smiled, not registering how Dream still hadn't let go of his hand even though they were standing still now as they looked out over the city lights.

Techno's hair was pretty wet at this point, so he went ahead and took it out of the pony tail with his free hand, letting it hang around his face. He looked over at Dream, smiling. His curly hair was soaked too, causing it to become even curlier than when it was dry. Dream looked over at him, returning the smile.

They stood there for a while holding each others hand and letting the rain fall on them as they watched the city peacefully.

"How's the view?" Dream smirked. "Pretty good, actually." Techno laughed, squeezing the blond's hand gently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahfjs it's gonna get sad again soon D:
> 
> as always feel free to leave comments and feedback!


	8. you're in trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: threats, assault, etc etc. stay safe and eat something babes
> 
> i hope y'all enjoy :))

Dream and Techno halfway ran back to the car, giggling the whole way, still holding each others hand. They nearly slipped a couple times on the softening almost-muddy ground, somehow managing to keep eachother upright.

Dream grabbed four towels from the trunk of his car, setting two on the seat and keeping the other two for him and Techno to dry off with. Well, as much as they could dry off with how wet their clothes were.

Techno took the towel, thanking Dream, before starting to dry off his soaking pink hair. He still felt the mild adrenaline buzz from jogging through the rain. He couldn't get rid of the small smile on his face as Dream started the car and began driving again after asking for Techno's address.

The blond glanced at the clock, frowning. It was almost 6, and they were a long ways from town. "I should probably get you home." He turned the windshield wipers up higher and turned on his headlights as he heard thunder in the distance, the rain picking up even more.

"Thanks for today. I had a lot of fun." Techno smiled, running his fingers through his still-wet hair. At least it wasn't dripping wet anymore.

"No problem. I had a lot of fun too." Dream smiled back again, continuing to drive. But the rain continued to pick up, and eventually he had to pull over. He sighed, checking his phone for the forecast. "I don't think it's safe to drive in this." he frowned. "The worst of it'll be over in around an hour." he moved to crawl into the back of the car since there was more room to get comfortable. Techno followed him, relaxing in the seat next to him. 

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket, his eyebrows scrunching together as he pulled it out to check the notification.

[Steve: Where are you?]

He took a deep breath, hyping himself up to lie.

[Techno: club meeting]

His hands shook slightly. So Steve would be home when he got there. He tried to keep his breathing even.

[Steve: That's not what Wilbur told me.]

Techno blinked his tears away, staring at the screen.

[Steve: Whore]  
[Steve: What's taking you so long??]  
[Steve: You're in trouble.]

Techno turned his phone off, not wanting to read any of the new messages he was receiving from Steve. He slumped in his seat, nearly forgetting Dream was there until he spoke. "Are you okay?" Techno could hear the concern in his voice. He nodded, wiping at his teary eyes. He didn't want Dream to see him as weak.

The blond watched the shorter for a few seconds, before reaching out to wrap an arm around his shoulders. Techno quickly relaxed into the touch, letting himself slump against Dream's side, a couple of tears slipped out of his eyes, though he refused to let himself break down.

They stayed like that, halfway falling asleep as they waited for the intense part of the storm to pass over. Once it did Dream glanced at Techno, waiting for him to drift back into wakefulness. Once did he finally moved back into the drivers seat, no longer having to worry about waking the pinkette.

He began driving, going a little slow since the rain was still falling hard, even though it had let up enough for it to be safe to drive.

Dream reached over, holding Techno's hand while they drove. "You can talk to me. Or text me whenever. If you wanna vent or something." He wasn't really the best at communicating, but he was starting to worry for his friend. "Thanks." Techno said quietly, running his thumb over the back of Dream's hand, trying to ignore the dread building in his gut.

The drive seemed to go much to fast, even though it was nearly eight by the time they pulled up in front of Techno's house. Dream briefly wondered why Techno looked so lost in thought, and why he just sat there for so long.

Techno looked at Dream, an unsure and nervous look settling on his features. Eventually he seemed to make up his mind, leaning over to plant a kiss on Dream's cheek. When he pulled back the blond was looking at him with something like amazement on his face, which was also rather red now. Techno smiled, laughing nervously.

"Thanks for driving me home." He opened the door, grabbing his backpack and stepping out.

"No problem." Dream still looked stunned, though a small smile now sat on his face as Techno closed the door. He watched the albino walk to his door, turning around to wave at Dream before walking inside. Techno watched Dream wave back, smiling to himself.

As he walked by the living room he heard Philza call out, asking where he was going so fast. Techno sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. Dream obviously hadn't been able to see the bruises due to the darkness outside, but the rain had almost certainly washed away his makeup.

Techno walked back to the living room, pulling his hoodie up to his chin, acting as if he was just cold from being rain-soaked. "Did you have fun with your friend?" His father asked. Techno made eye contact with Steve who was sitting next to Wilbur. Steve really didn't looked pleased with Techno. The pinkette felt like he was about an inch tall.

"Yeah, I did." He looked at the ground instead of Steve. "I'm gonna uh, go change. It was... really rainy today." He quickly walked to his room without giving anyone a chance to reply, changing into some sweat pants and a white t-shirt. He took his binder off, letting it hang over the edge of the shower rack to dry off.

He laid down on his bed, rubbing his face tiredly. He heard the door creak open then closed, causing him to sit up anxiously. Steve walked forward angrily, slapping Techno and pushing him backwards on the bed. The pinkette began crying, trying to push Steve away. "Stop it- I'm- I-" he tried to continue speaking as Steve squeezed his throat roughly.

Techno coughed and gasped, still struggling, which seemed to surprise Steve. He easily picked Techno up, throwing him on the ground. The albino cried out, already attempting to stand. "I'm s-serious- stop-" Steve cut him off, pushing the side of his face into the ground with the bottom of his combat boot. He essentially ground Techno's head into the ground, before moving his foot away to draw it back and kick Techno's side.

He grabbed Techno by the arms, pulling him upright and slamming him against the wall. "Sto-" Steve grabbed Techno's jaw, making it nearly impossible to talk. He drew his fist back, causing the albino to squeeze his eyes shut and flinch away. When no blow came he opened his eyes, confused. Steve stared at him, letting go and shrugging, a small evil smile on his face. Techno was more scared than he was before.

"I guess I'll just go see what Tommy's doing." Steve let go of Techno, turning away and walking to the door.

"No no no no no-" Techno ran forward, pushing himself between Steve and the door, not allowing the taller male to open it. "Please. No- don't." Techno was shaking worse now. Steve looked practically joyful, wondering why he hadn't thought to do this before. "Please." he stared up at Steve.

"Convince me then." Techno let tears begin to run down his face. He pushed Steve back towards the bed, crawling on top of him and trying to keep himself from completely breaking down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah it's still gonna get worse :(
> 
> feel free to leave feedback in the comments!! love you guys <3


	9. drowning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: drugging, suicidal thoughts, mentions of sexual assault, and stuff like that. this is a sad chapter, so stay safe <3
> 
> anyways, hope you enjoy

It was quite literally four a.m. by the time Steve left Techno's room. He wasn't sure if it had ever been that bad before. He wasn't even sure where his clothes were at the moment. He wasn't sure about where anything was actually- he was extremely disoriented. And everything hurt.

He basically crawled to the bathroom, throwing up several times. Due to all the lights being off he wasn't even a hundred percent sure of how much time was passing, or if he was conscious. He managed to get in the shower, just laying on the floor while the water ran.

He wasn't sure how much of his body was covered in blood Steve decided to smear around, but he guessed it was a good portion. The thought caused him to throw up again, leaning forward so it would wash down the drain without getting on him. He let out a frustrated cry, covering his face with his hands. Steve had scratched him so hard several times that he was bleeding all across his back, and thighs, and torso, and arms. Not to even mention the bruises and bite marks.

He wished Dream was there to hold him like he had in the car earlier. "Oh my god," Techno sobbed out, pain lacing his cracking voice that cut in and out almost like a faulty radio. He had kissed Dream on the cheek. And Dream had seemed happy. And now Techno wasn't ever going to be able to talk to him again. Not that he didn't want to, but he couldn't handle the thought of what would happen if he did. The way Steve would react.

Techno laid there limply, letting the shower water spray over his torso and chest, unable to move. Every small movement sent waves of pain through his entire body. He was hardly able to keep his eyes open. He wanted to die so bad. His biological parents didn't want him. He was just a burden to his adoptive family. He never even god to live a full normal childhood thanks to Steve. Along with his injuries, the emotional pain actually cause Techno to physically ache. It felt like too much to feel at once.

After an hour he reached his leg up and turned the shower off with his foot, laying there for a while longer. His cries hardly even came out of his destroyed throat. Along with being choked, Steve had shoved his cock down Techno's throat repeatedly. Several different times. He hadn't realized due to all the lights being off, but when he threw up he coughed blood up with the bile.

He finally managed to stand after pretty much air drying, flushing the toilet as he went by to dispose of his vomit. He fell halfway to his bed, too shaky and injured to walk. He let his face rest against the floor, his chest heaving up and down as he tried to get any air through his windpipe.

He couldn't hardly think about anything other than how badly everything hurt. And how tired he was. And how much he absolutely hated himself. He stood like a baby deer, nearly making it to his closet before his legs completely gave out again. Falling hurt so bad, causing his wounds to slap painfully against the hard ground. He shifted up onto his knees, which were also bruised from being shoved to the ground several times to choke on Steve's dick.

He pulled some underwear and clothes out of his closet, struggling to get them on since he straight up could not stand. Once he did he crawled over to his bed, pulling himself up into it. He tried not to think about the fact that he had literally been fucked unconscious several times in this exact spot over the past few hours.

He pulled the blankets up over himself, though he was unable to sleep. He reached over and picked up his phone to check the time. Six a.m. He'd normally be waking up soon. He put his phone down on his bed stand, not even trying to close his eyes and fall asleep. He was exhausted but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep.

Eventually he heard his door open, causing him to pull the covers up a little higher. "Techno?" he heard his father's voice ask. "It's almost time for school.." His voice held concern that made Techno nearly cry with guilt.

"I'm sick." He was hardly able to get the words out with his cracking voice. He heard his father walk in, reaching out to feel his forehead, causing Techno to jerk back abruptly. His father frowned, pausing, before reaching forward the rest of the way. "You don't have a fever." He spoke quietly. Techno was glad his father had left the lights off, because he would've definitely seen the bruises at this proximity.

"There must be something going around because Steve says he feels under the weather too." Philza walked back to the door, lingering in the entrance for a little while. "I've got to go to work soon, but text me if you need anything, son." Techno rasped out a quiet reply. His father stood for a few more seconds, thinking about how strange Techno acts these days. He sighed, finally walking away.

Techno started crying quietly, using his hands to cover his face. His head hurt terribly. His face had been hit so many times, his head had been slammed against the ground, and he couldn't even explain the pain in his scalp from his hair being repeatedly pulled. In general, he just felt like he had been hit by a bus. And on top of that, Steve was going to be in the house the whole day with him while everyone was gone.

Techno couldn't tell how long he laid there for before he heard a distinct pattern of steps making their way into his room. "Drink this." Steve spoke, holding out what looked to be water with a slight blue tint. Techno didn't have any energy to fight, so he just took the glass and drank the water as quickly as he could. It felt terrible on his sore throat.

"Just so you don't have anymore outbursts like last night." Steve sat on the side of the bed next to Techno, causing him to whimper quietly, curling up and scooting away slightly. Steve's expression remained as blank as before as he simply stared at Techno. When the smaller male started crying again it brought a smile to Steve's face.

Techno felt like he was drowning. He couldn't hardly get enough air through his strangled breaths, and his emotions felt like an ocean crushing him.

Eventually the taller left Techno to go entertain himself while the drugs in the water took effect. And when they did it wasn't fun for Techno. His body felt like it weighed a thousand tons and the air felt like it was crushing him. He thought it couldn't get any harder to breath, but it somehow did. If his sense of time was bad before, he didn't even have one now. He looked over at the clock on his wall, seeing that it was almost halfway through the school day.

Steve came back in, crawling on top of Techno, a satisfied look on his face at the docile state of the pinkette. He reached for Techno's shirt, stopping when he heard his phone buzz. The albino tried to protest when he saw Steve reaching for it, but he couldn't get anything out. With the drugs on top of his injuries he wasn't sure if speaking was even a possibility.

"Oh? So who's 'Dreamy' with a heart next to their name?" Techno opened his mouth to reply, although he passed out from the drugs shortly after. He couldn't remember much of anything that day after that, just distant words and pain as he drifted in and out of consciousness, if you could even call it that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah it'll get worse before it gets better :,(
> 
> but as usual, feel free to leave your feedback or anything in the comments! love y'all cuties :))


	10. run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: sexual assault, assault, yk yk. drink some water stupidt head and i hope you enjoy :)

When Technoblade woke up after being out for a while all he really knew was that he hurt worse than before and his bones still felt like bricks. He didn't feel a little more sentient though. He didn't try to sit up, using a good bit of his strength to turn his head and look at the clock. Oh. It's six. So his family is probably home now. Not that it really mattered.

He sighed heavily, wishing he had the energy to brush his hair out of his face. He stared at his ceiling, closing his eyes and slipping off into a half-sleep. He wasn't resting, but he wasn't necessarily conscious. Eventually he passed further into sleep.

When he woke up the next time he was just in time to feel Steve coming inside of him. A couple of tears fell down his face, though he didn't have the energy to cry very hard, instead just letting out quiet pitiful and defeated sounds. 

After the third time of waking up that way it felt like way too much. His senses were just so crowded. Everything was just Steve, Steve, Steve. Inside of him, grabbing him, kissing him roughly, just using him like an inanimate object. He tried to distract himself by thinking about Dream, and how peaceful it was in the back of the car. The rain falling heavily on the window. Dream's arm around him. Being able to absolutely melt into the blond's side. Dream was so warm. And he always touched Techno so softly. It felt so nice. His heart physically ached. He just wanted Dream so bad. He finally drifted off again.

Techno and Steve stayed home for two more days after that. Dream had blown up Techno's phone, asking if he was okay. Eventually Steve powered off Techno's phone so it would stop buzzing. Steve had continued to drug Techno up to keep him from fighting back.

The light hadn't been on in Techno's room for days now, and he didn't really mind. It helped him detach from the situation if he could just stare into the darkness. Instead of just passing out cold he had begun occasionally dreaming too. He dreamed about when he was younger, before Steve. 

When he crawled into bed with Philza after a stupid childish nightmare and his father never hesitated with quickly wrapping him up in a warm dad hug that just made everything feel okay. When Philza would carry him around after his legs got tired of walking. 

When him and Wilbur were young and they taught Tommy how to prank people. When Tommy was getting bullied by some older kids and Wilbur and Techno literally fought them. When Wilbur and Techno tried to give eachother stick n poke tattoos but never ended up pushing the needle deep enough to make the ink stay. 

But sometimes he also dreamed about- well- Dream. He dreamed about the blond wrapping his big arms around him. Or running his hands though his hair gently. Or holding his face with his hands. 

He always woke up though. Back to the pain coursing through his every nerve and back to Steve. Finally after those couple of days Steve went back to school, but of course Techno was even worse off now than the first day he skipped, so he continued staying home. 

Philza was growing more and more worried for his son, but he didn't want to drive Techno away by badgering him. So he tried not to pester his son with too many questions when he brought him food, setting it on the table beside Techno's bed. He tried to actually ask if something was wrong a select few times, but his son always got defensive quickly and shut his father down.

A day later Steve brought a friend home with him. Techno's family wasn't in the house, they had gone to a bar to watch Wilbur perform some songs he wrote. Techno was so proud of his brother, and he really wanted to go, but it just wasn't logical with the state he was in. Techno still felt fatigued, but since Steve was gone he wasn't able to drug him as often, and the albino was less dazed than he had been. He even felt like he might could move his limbs.

He managed to take a shower that day and change his clothes, though he still felt incredibly dirty and disgusting afterwards. But at least he felt a little better than he had before.

Techno's face scrunched up when he heard two sets of footsteps, and an unfamiliar voice along with Steve's. He began to shake, shifting to sit upright, although it was a slow process.

Techno jumped when the door slammed open. Oh god. He could smell the alcohol on Steve and his friend from where he sat. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, trying to stand but falling immediately, his ankle twisting uncomfortably. It hurt, but probably not bad enough to be any type of real injury. 

"Where're you off to in s-such a hurry?" Steve's friend slurred, pulling Techno from laying on the ground up to his knees by the hair. He hadn't even realized that the boy had already pulled his dick out until he was shoving it down Techno's throat. The albino tried to pull away, but the boy kept him in place, his hands tangling in the pink hair tightly.

Steve had circled around behind Techno, pulling him off of his friend's cock to get his shirt off. Techno tried to take the chance to gasp for air, but he just ended up coughing and wheezing as the member was shoved down his throat again. He distantly felt Steve pulling off his shorts. 

Techno not only wanted to die, but he felt like he actually might if he had to go through much more of this. He should at least give one final try, right? He didn't have anything left to lose.

He bit down on the dick in his mouth and kicked out at the boy behind him, stumbling upright and grabbing his phone. Thankfully Steve had taken the passcode off for easier access, although this also gave Techno easier access too. It was all a split second decision, but there's no going back now.

He stumbled towards the door of his room, his hands and legs shaking violently as he went as fast as he possibly could. He quickly pressed the contact with the green heart next to it, hearing Steve and his friend shaking off the shock of his attack and getting up, their footsteps coming up behind him fast as the phone rang.

He hurt so much at this point that his body had gone into a sort of shock. He felt numb apart from the adrenaline shooting through him. Despite being in only his underwear and binder, he couldn't even feel the cold as he threw the front door open and ran as fast as he could. He didn't look over his shoulder, because he was pretty sure he didn't have time to spare to do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> crazy ass chapter :,0
> 
> the drama definitely isn't over yet though
> 
> feel free to leave feedback and comments!! have a great day :))


	11. what the hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: assault, panic attacks, that sort of stuff. stay safe and i hope you enjoy :)

It was debatable whether he was running or more so slipping and sliding and stumbling, but he continued down the sidewalk, the pavement still wet from the rain as the ringing on the other end of the line finally ceasing as the blond answered. At least the ground wasn't wet enough to cause him to slip.

He barely heard Dream on the other end, saying a couple of things like 'what the hell is wrong with you, I've been so worried, and why haven't you answered'. He cut his friend off probably in the middle of a sentence, having to practically yell for his words to come out at an audible volume, "I need you to come to my h-house-" he hardly even sounded like himself, most of the sentence sounding like scratchy air that somehow formed words. 

"Woah what- Techno?" Dream's tone had changed instantly as he heard Techno. "Please I n-need you to hurry-" It was so tiring to run as fast as possible and try to speak at the same time, especially when your vocal chords had other plans.

He only ran for a few more seconds before he felt himself falling as he realized he was being tackled. Steve's friend was still a long ways back, not walking too good due to the way Techno had- uh- chomped him.

Techno pushed at Steve, trying to get him away, though he couldn't get the taller to budge. He let out a loud cry as Steve punched him hard across the face. His mouth tasted metallic, and he vaguely registered that it was blood. He took a few deep breaths, spitting some of his blood into Steve's eye and bringing up his knee into the taller's stomach. While he was trying to recover the Albino crawled away, grabbing his phone and staggering to his feet and running once again. 

He was almost down his street when he saw Dream's car speed around the corner. He practically cried with relief, running towards the now stationary vehicle and throwing open the door which had already been unlocked. 

"Techno! What the hell is going on?" Dream's voice was a bit panicky as he grilled the steering wheel. "Just drive p-ple-" he was cut off by a hand reaching through Dream's open window. Steve used one of his hands to grab Techno's hair, the other grabbing the albino's arm as he basically tried to drag him out of the window.

Dream reached over quickly, prying Steve's fingers away before using one of his hands to roll up the window until Steve basically had to let go and pull his arms out of the car. Techno was crying and shaking now, anxiety rattling through him as he attempted to catch his breath. Even as Dream started driving quickly away he still sobbed, unable to catch his breath no matter how fast he breathed. He felt like he was suffocating.

Once Dream had sped down a couple of roads he pulled to the side of the road, turning to Techno quickly. He now began to notice all of the scratches and cuts and bruises and... cigarette burns, all over his tiny friend. He also glanced down at the binder. He hadn't known before that Techno was transgender, but he didn't really care. What he was concerned about was the wrecked state of his friend, who was also now hyperventilating.

He turned the car off, moving to look at his friend, who was gripping the sides of the seat, his eyes a million miles away. He reached out, although that only caused the albino to flinch away, curling his knees up in front of him.

Dream's heart was breaking and stopping and beating faster all at the same time. He was just so shocked by the whole situation, although he was trying to compose himself and figure out what to do with the half-naked shaking boy in his passenger seat, who now had his hands over his head, as if protecting himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh dream's trying his best 
> 
> anyways, feel free to leave tips or feedback or whatever!! love y'all :)


	12. do you wanna talk about it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: panic attacks, mentions of assault, that stuff, so stay safe and make sure to eat sum
> 
> i hope you enjoy :)

Dream waited for a few seconds, unsure if Techno would just calm down on his own- but it didn't seem that way. He was curled up now with his forehead resting on his knees, his hands tangled in his own hair as he tried desperately to catch his breath.

"Techno," Dream spoke softly and quietly, reaching out slowly and gentle untangling the shorter's small hands from his pink hair. "It's just me." He felt Techno squeeze his bigger hands, trying to ground himself. The blond's heart hurt at the way he could feel the tremors running through his friend's hands. "It's okay," The pain was clear in Dream's voice. He hated seeing Techno in pain and not being able to do much about it. 

Over a bit of time the pinkette's breath slowed back to a somewhat manageable pattern, though he still shook like a leaf. The blond reached out his hand, letting it hover next to the other's face. Techno quickly leaned into the hand, breathing out a labored sigh and closing his eyes, a couple of tears falling as he did.

Techno wondered if this was real, or if he was just dreaming again. Either way, he just decided to allow himself to enjoy the soft hand against his face. Dream wiped a couple of the tears away with his thumb, his face painted with sadness.

Dream moved his hand away, trying not to think about the way Techno moved his face after it slightly, clearly missing the contact. He reached into the back of his car, grabbing one of the several hoodies he had thrown around randomly in his backseat. He held it out to Techno, who took it shakily, pulling it on and wincing slightly at how he had to move his sore body to get it on. He relaxed back into the seat a little, enjoying the oversized warmth.

After a few minutes he was still shaking, closing his eyes as he tried to calm down. He impulsively moved, sliding over the center console to sit on Dream's lap. He rested the side of his face against his friend's chest, trying to stifle his tears. 

After a few seconds Dream wrapped his arms around Techno, one of his hands rubbing along his back in small circles, his other hand moving up to thread in Techno's hair and run along his scalp. At first Techno tensed up, instinctually expecting his hair to be pulled. He soon relaxed though, tears still running down his face as he occasionally let out a quiet sob.

"It's okay," Dream whispered, resting his head on top of Techno's. "You're safe, I promise." Techno was practically limp at that point, his tears slowing as his shaking subsided to the occasional shiver. He was so tired, and now that his adrenaline was wearing off he was starting to feel the pain of forcing himself to essentially sprint while his insides already felt shredded.

Despite the fact that his body felt like it was falling apart, he felt good. He felt safe, and warm, and he didn't feel like scratching his skin off until there was nothing left. He still felt disgusting, but he at least felt better. 

His eyes had begun to feel heavy, but he really didn't want to go to sleep. He was afraid he would wake up back in his dark room with Steve. But it was way too hard to stay awake with how comfortable he felt against Dream. Not to mention the drugs still in his system. So eventually he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and he drifted off, listening to Dream's heartbeat.

He dreamt of Steve hurting not only him, but also Wilbur and Tommy. When the dream got particularly bad he shot upright, hitting his head on the ceiling of the car. He also woke up his friend, who had fallen asleep under him and reclined the seat at some point to make them more comfortable. Techno looked around rapidly, his eyes settling out the window. It was dark. Night time.

"Ah- Techno-" Dream rubbed his eyes tiredly, sitting up. "Are you okay?" He asked tiredly, blinking as he tried to adjust his eyes to being awake. "Y-yeah." Techno rasped out, his throat still scratchy and aching.

"Do you wanna talk about what happened?" Dream yawned, a bit more awake now. Techno just shook his head, moving to sit sideways across his friend's lap now. He was way too worn out to care about personal space, and Dream didn't seem to mind. "I'm worried about you." Dream said quietly, reaching out to hold one of Techno's hands. "But we can wait until you wanna talk." Dream and Techno sat in comfortable silence, with Techno eventually falling asleep again, his head resting against the blond's shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> steve will get messed soon i promise <3
> 
> as always feel free to leave feedback or anything, have a nice day :)


	13. scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: panic attacks, scars, but nothing too graphic, still make sure to stay safe kiddos and i hope you enjoy :))

When Techno woke up again the first thing he noticed was the lack of warmth, or more specifically, the lack of Dream. He sat up quickly, taking a few panicky breaths, though he instantly regretted it as his head began pounding and his vision grew spotty. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get the pain to dull a little.

Once he gained his bearings he looked around, realizing he was in the back seat of the car now. His eyes finally landed on Dream, who was sitting in the passenger seat, scrolling through social media on his phone.

Once he heard Techno moving around in the backseat he turned his phone off, turning in his seat to look at him. Techno looked like a goddamn mess. His long hair was tangled and frizzy, he was covered nearly head to toe in injuries, and he looked like he hadn't slept in a couple of days. Despite that though, Dream couldn't help but think about how pretty he looks.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, looking at Techno like he usually did. Like there was something that made it hard to look away. It made Techno's face heat up like usual and caused his brain to go blank for a couple of seconds. "N-" the albino coughed, his throat feeling like a million tiny, scratchy pin pricks. "Not bad." he gave a small smile, which caused Dream to smile.

Dream finally broke eye contact, reaching over to grab a bottle of water, handing it to Techno. The pinkette hesitated, an irrational part of him briefly wondering if it was drugged. He quickly shook the thought away. No. Dream wouldn't do that, and the water bottle was clearly still sealed. He quietly thanked Dream, before unscrewing the lid and taking a small drink. It hurt as he swallowed, but once it was down he felt better.

"Th-" He paused, his voice still scratchy. "Thank you. For h-helping me." He managed to force out, before taking another small drink of the water. Dream smiled a little, shrugging. "You don't have to thank me." All Dream really cared about is whether Techno was safe or not.

The pinkette just smiled back softly. He wasn't sure why Dream hadn't gotten tired of him yet. He wondered briefly, if maybe Dream really did just like him for who he was. The thought made his smile widen a bit. 

He crawled up into the passenger seat, wincing and blinking at the sunlight that shined directly in his eyes as he did so. "Do you want me to take you home soon?" Dream asked, fidgeting with his hands as he maintained eye contact with Techno once again. Techno shook his head quickly, looking away from his friend. 

"That's fine," Dream said quickly, trying to reassure the albino. "Do you wanna hang out with my friends today? They really want to meet you." That made Techno smile. "You told them ab-bout me?" His face flushed a soft pink, his tone shy. Dream blushed as well, clearing his throat nervously. "Oh uh- yeah. I did." he looked down at his hands, letting out a small nervous laugh.

"I would really like to meet them, yeah." Techno smile widened at how cute Dream is when he's awkward. The blond looked up again after hearing that, excitement evident in his features. "I'll text them and ask when they're free today." Dream picked his phone back up, going to his groupchat and sending a quick couple of texts. 

"They'll all be free at three." Dream looked up at the clock on the car radio. It was only twelve. "We could go get some food while we wait." He started the car, pulling back onto the road. It was a wonder they hadn't been told to move by some karen over the course of the night.

After a little bit of driving and getting lost in the suburbs around Techno's area, Dream found a McDonalds, pulling into the line. There was only one car in front of them, so they got to the ordering spot pretty quickly. "What do you want?" Dream asked, turning to Techno as the lady spoke through the speaker, though neither of them listened as they knew it would just be the usual greetings she had to do.

"Oh uh- I'm not hungry." Techno lied, looking away from Dream. The blond just blinked at him, before turning back to the speaker and ordering a burger and some nuggets. He pulled up to the window, paying and thanking the guy as he handed them the bags of food and their drinks. Dream drove to go park so they could sit while they ate. 

He took the nuggets out, handing them to Techno, who stared at him, then the nuggets, then back at him. "I said I wasn't hungry." He spoke quietly, a hint of confusion in his voice. "Yeah but, you are. Or you will be." Dream sat the nuggets down in his friend's lap without any further discussion, pulling out his own burger to start eating it. "Thanks." Techno said quietly, glancing quickly at Dream.

After a little while of silence Techno opened the box, eating a couple of the nuggets. Once they were done Dream turned to Techno, throwing the trash floor of the backseat. "Can I see your arm?" He asked, and Techno didn't understand how his face looked so innocent.

Even though it was illogical, Techno immediately assumed that Dream was going to hurt him like Steve did. Why else would he be asking to see his arm? "I'm s-sorry- I'm sorry- I don't know what I did I-" He wrapped his arms around himself, scooting towards the car door and away from Dream. "Please, I'm sorry." Techno whispered, closing his eyes tightly, panic causing him to shake again.

Dream was rather surprised- and worried. And horrified. He couldn't find any okay reason that Techno would act like this.

"I'm not-" He wasn't even sure what to say. He wasn't sure what had set off this reaction. "I'm not going to hurt you," he finally decided on, frowning as he reached out to place a hand on top of one of Techno's. The albino looked up slowly, letting Dream hold his hand. He was just plain confused now. He thought the blond was angry and wanted to punish him, but it didn't quite seem that way anymore.

"I just saw your arm last night, and I wanted to make sure that it was healing okay and it wasn't infected or anything." Techno's expression slowly went from terrified to realization. "O-oh." He relaxed after a little while, still holding onto Dream's hand. "Sorry I-I thought... Yeah, sorry." he held his arm out to Dream, who pulled his sleeve up gently, trying not to startle Techno in any way.

Techno watched Dream study the cuts on his wrist, before looking back up at him. "Can I see the other one too?" Techno nodded, now holding out his other arm, which the cuts were mostly healed on. Dream did the same with that arm, though he leaned down and kissed the scarring wrist before he let it go.

Techno smiled a little, now pretty much completely back to a calm state as he pulled down his sleeves while Dream started driving again.

As they drove Dream glanced at Techno a couple of times. "You know you're beautiful, right?" He asked eventually, his eyes on the road as he spoke. Techno's face heated up and he slumped in his seat a little. "You are too." Techno said quietly, fidgeting with the hoodie sleeves that hung over his hands due to how big it was on him.

Now it was Dream's turn to fall silent and blush as he continued driving, a smile on both boys faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eeeahhhh i love writing this just as much as angst tbh
> 
> feel free to leave feedback in the comments, love y'all <3


	14. meet the parents... kind of?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: implied mentions of sexual assault, abuse, those sort of things, stay safe and i hope you enjoy :)

Once they arrived at the park Dream got out of the car, stretching. He back hurt a little from sleeping on a car seat, but after moving around and popping a couple of his joints he felt pretty fine. He looked over at Techno, who was having trouble getting out of the car and standing, leaning heavily on the door for support. Along with that and the hand shaped bruises on the albino's hips and thighs Dream thought he might have a pretty good idea of what happened. 

He pulled himself out of his thoughts shutting the driver side door and, walking around the car to pick Techno up so he didn't have to walk. The short boy let out a small sound of surprise, though he didn't question the action, just wrapping his arms around Dream's neck happily. The blond closed the passenger side door with his foot, frowning a little as he held Techno. "I think I bench press more than you." He spoke quietly as he walked over to a picnic table, sitting down with Techno in his lap.

The pinkette let out a quiet giggle, relaxing as he felt Dream resting his chin on his shoulder and wrap his arms arms around the smaller torso. Despite how much he tried to push everyone away, he had really missed physical affection, or just affection in general. 

Eventually a white truck pulled up in the parking lot, three people getting out. The driver was a boy with black hair that had a similar style as Dream, but a little less sporty and a little more e-boy. The one that came from the passenger side was almost the same height as the driver, but he had a far different style. He wore a color-block hoodie and white jeans with colorful vans that matched his hoodie. The one that got out of the back was probably high, judging from the white clout goggles covering his eyes and the slightly disoriented composure.

"Hey guys!" Dream called out happily, waving at them so they could spot him. A smile came over the e-boy's and the colorful hoodie boy's face as they saw Dream. The tallest of them, the boy with black hair nudged the shorter disoriented one who still hadn't spotted them, pointing over to to the pinkette and the blond.

The three walked over, sitting on the other side of the table, all with varying facial expressions. "I'm Karl," The second tallest spoke first, a smile on his face. "I'm Sapnap." The black haired one said, his smile a bit less wide but no less friendly. A silence fell over them as they all looked at George, who was staring off into the distance. "Dude," Sapnap whispered, nudging the boy with clout goggles. "Oh wh- I'm uh- George." He spat out finally, looking over at Techno and Dream.

"You must be the pink haired cutie that Dream simps over." Sapnap spoke teasingly, leaning forward a little. "And you must be the one who wrestled Dream in the bathroom." Techno replied, smirking a little despite the blush on his face. Karl and George started laughing, George laughing a bit harder due to his heightened state.

"Okay, okay, but who won?" Sapnap groaned frustratedly, looking at Dream expectantly. "I did." the blond said, before he started laughing as well. "No, no, no. That is not true," Sapnap rolled his eyes, crossing his arms defeatedly. Techno smiled, laughing quietly along with the others.

"I'm glad Dream got to meet you, but the football team is seriously missing him. They suck without him." Karl said after the laughing quieted down, causing Sapnap to put on a fake offended expression. "I'm still on the team, you know." Karl stared back at Sapnap blankly. "Yeah, I know." Sapnap put on an even more hurt face, gasping and punching Karl's arm softly. Techno jumped a little, wincing slightly.

The three looked at him for a second, a silence falling over the group. Techno looked down nervously, relaxing a little when Dream held him a tiny bit tighter. "Sorry dude." Sapnap said quietly. After a few seconds the conversation picked up, everything going back to normal for the most part.

"So, you don't plan on breaking Dream's heart do you?" Sapnap asked, suddenly sounding almost like a dad. "Oh shut up, Sapnap." Dream rolled his eyes, switching to rest his chin on Techno's other shoulder to get more comfortable. "It's a serious question!" The black haired boy said defensively, turning his eyes back to Techno expectantly. "Um- no, I don't plan on it," The albino let out a nervous laugh.

"Good, good." Sapnap smiled. "You better not." He added. Karl reaches forward, patting Techno's head with a smile. "Welcome to the family or whatever I guess." George said with a lopsided smile. Techno smiled back, and even though he couldn't see Dream except from the very corner of his eye, he could tell the blond was smiling too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yayyy another chapter without steve :))
> 
> feel free to leave feedback in the comments and have great day cuties <3


	15. meet the father gone wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: assault(?), mentions of injuries, yk yk. be safe and drink some w a t e r because you literally need that shit
> 
> anyways hope you enjoy <3

"Sapnap I have cheer practice in like, fifteen minutes." Karl said whiningly, laying his head down on the picnic table. "What do you want me to do, call in sick for you?" Sapnap gave Karl an exasperated look, before looking at Dream. "I have football practice in an hour but, ~Dream~ wouldn't know." He gave the blond a pointed look. "Shut up, Sapnap." He shook his head a little from where he was still resting it on top of Techno's shoulder.

"Sapnaaaap," George groaned, laying his head on the taller boy's shoulder. "Oh my goddd, what? You and Karl are so needy today, what the hell." His voice carried a bit of frustration, but the fondness was still clearly there. "Sapnap..." Karl whined, laughing a little as he laid his head on the taller boy's other shoulder. "Listen, I'm not a simp like Dream." He stood up, prompting complaints from both of the boys who had been resting against him.

"Get up Karl I have to take you to practice." Sapnap said, standing up and helping the still half-high George stand. "Why don't you help me stand up?" Karl pouted as he stood. "Gee I don't know, it's almost like you're not high as a kite." Sapnap might sound a little mean out of context, but being sassy and very occasionally clingy was basically just his love language.

"See you lovebirds later." George waved at the two who were still sitting as he practically hung off of Sapnap to stay upright. "Shut up, Gogy." Karl smirked, tripping him as he walked by, triggering a stream of very british cursing from George. "Bye!" Dream waved at the three as they waved back, getting into the car and driving off.

After watching the white truck disappear from sight Techno moved, sitting on the table now to face Dream, which made him slightly taller than the blond. "I like your friends." He said, a small smile now on his face. "I think they like you too." Dream smiled right back, looking at Techno with that admiring expression again.

"Do you want me to take you home today?" He asked, his face getting a little more serious. Techno thought about the question for a few minutes, before eventually sighing and nodding. "My family is probably worried." he paused, looking down at the visible bruises on his thighs and running his hand over them absentmindedly, his eyes watering a little. "It's just... gonna be a lot of explaining." 

Dream noticed the slight shift, reaching forward to hold Techno's hand and hopefully distract him from the bruises he was staring at with that upset expression. "It'll be okay. I'm sure they'll understand." Techno smiled slightly due to Dream's smile. He rubbed his eyes tiredly with his free hand, blinking away the tears. He was also pretty fucking worried about whether Steve would be at the house. But he had to go home. He was also worried about Steve going through with his threats about Tommy. Techno would never be able to live with himself if something like that happened.

"I can stay with you, if you want." Dream added, noticing Techno drifting off into thought. "Thanks." He said quietly, looking back up at Dream.

The drive back to Techno's house was rather uneventful and mostly silent, the two boys just holding hands and looking out the car window. Techno was trying not to think about it too much, but he knew his family was going to have a big reaction. In the back of his mind he was worried that they would be angry or disgusted with him. He really hoped not. He loves his family a lot.

They pulled up to the house, Techno taking a shaky breath before stepped out of the car, still leaning on it for support. Dream got out and came around to wrap an arm around Techno's waist to help him stand.

Techno's family had heard the car pull up in the driveway, because less than a minute later all three of them were rushing outside. They stared at Techno, then Dream, then all of the injuries on Techno. It all happened rather fast, Tommy pulling Techno back and wrapping his arms around his brother while Wilbur stood between Techno and Dream, Philza rushing forward and pushing the blond backwards further, before promptly punching him in the face.

"Dad what the hell!" Techno yelled out, soon breaking into a fit of coughs due to his still healing throat. His father quickly turned around, forgetting about the teenager he had just decked. He quickly rushed to his middle child, grabbing his face with his hands and taking in all of his visible injuries. After a few seconds he quickly pulled his son into a hug, causing Techno to be essentially trapped between Tommy and Philza now. Wilbur still stood, staring coldly at Dream, who looked confused and a little bit scared.

"Why are you guys attacking my-" He cut himself off. He didn't really know what Dream was to him. "Why are you guys attacking Dream?" He asked, though he still gladly wrapped his arms around his father and Tommy. He missed them. 

"Did he not- kidnap you-?" Wilbur asked, now looking just as confused as everyone else as he turned around to look at Techno. "What?? No?" The albino was beyond confused, just like the rest of his family and Dream, who was just standing there, a small stream of blood trickling out of the corner of his lip and a bruise forming on his cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor dream smh
> 
> anyway- feel free to leave feedback and or critique!! have a nice day :))


	16. i want to gut him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: mentions of sexual assault, mentions of assault, those sort of things, stay safe babes <3
> 
> also hope you enjoy :)

Tommy still held onto his brother. Philza eventually let go, though he remained close as he eyed Dream suspiciously. The air was tense as a heavy silence rested over them.

"Guys- Dream didn't hurt me. He didn't kidnap me." Techno wrapped his arms around Tommy, who clearly really did not want to let go of him. Judging by the look on his younger brother's face, he missed Techno a lot. The pinkette petted his little brother's hair absentmindedly, looking back at his father and Wilbur who were still positioned between him and Dream.

"Steve told us that some creep snatched you in a car and that he tried to stop them." Wilbur turned to point back at Dream's car. "And that's basically the car he described." Techno nearly threw up at the mention of Steve's name, though he tried to keep his composure. "Dream didn't kidnap me." He repeated, giving his father and Wilbur a meaningful look since they still seemed unconvinced. Tommy was clearly just glad that his brother was back, eyeing Dream with only slight suspicion. 

"Wait, do you know George?" Tommy asked after a second, squinting at the shaken blond. "Yeah..." Dream answered, still sounding just as confused as before. "Guys I think he's fine." Tommy spoke finally, letting go of Techno slowly. "Tubbo's friend has brought up Dream before. Apparently he's a little dumb, but he's really nice." Wilbur and Philza listened, before turning their gaze back to Dream, who had hardly moved a muscle.

Techno walked forward to grab Dream's hand, leading him over to where his three family members now stood. "We should go sit down before I explain." Techno said gently, staring at the ground before looking back up at his family. They all agreed quietly, walking inside with Dream and Techno following close behind.

"I'll be back soon." Techno said, pulling Dream into the kitchen and grabbing a wash rag. He ran it under the water for a couple of seconds before squeezing out the excess. He sat it down next to the sink, going to grab a bag of ice and bringing it over to Dream, who was leaning against the counter.

He grabbed the wash rag, cleaning the blood off of Dream's face that had ran down his chin. "I'm okay Techno, you don't have to-" The albino cut him off by shushing him, cleaning off the last of the blood before picking up the bag of ice and handing it to Dream to press against his bruising cheek.

Techno hesitated as he walked back towards the living room where his family had settled. Dream came up beside him, interlacing their fingers gently. Techno looked up at him, before giving a small nervous smile. He walked to the living room, sitting down on the couch with Philza on one side of him and Dream on the other. Although his father was seated a little further away, whilst he was pretty much flush against Dream's side, who had his arm around him.

Tommy moved to sit on the floor in front of Techno's legs like they used to before the pinkette started pushing everyone away. Wilbur remained seated on the loveseat, his eyes distant. Techno wondered if he had already begun piecing the situation together.

"So, uh- a-about... S-Steve..." Techno reached forward to run his hands through his little brothers messy hair like he used to. Due to Tommy's back resting against his legs Techno couldn't see his face, but he assumed Tommy was listening intently due to his slight tenseness. 

Techno explained as least graphically as he could everything that had happened. He explained how Steve was actually the one who had been cutting his arms- not himself. He explained that he hadn't actually been sick, he just physically couldn't go through a school day. And finally, after taking a long pause, he explained that Steve had been sexually assaulting him for the past four years now. He mentioned how Steve had threatened to hurt Tommy.

He continued playing with Tommy's hair to calm himself, not looking at his father or Wilbur's reaction. After a long while of silence Tommy moved up on the couch next to Techno, wrapping his arms around his older brother's torso a tad tightly. Even though the younger hadn't made noise and Techno still hadn't gotten a good look at his face, he could tell that his little brother was crying.

He glanced at Wilbur, who had his face in his hands, his body incredibly still, almost statue-like. He finally looked at his father, who genuinely looked like he might cry. Techno wasn't sure he had ever seen his dad cry. He opened his mouth the speak, but soon closed it when Philza scooted over, wrapping his arms around Tommy and Techno.

The albino cried a little, though he was mostly just relieved that his family wasn't angry or anything like that. They stayed like that for probably over an hour, Tommy eventually falling asleep on Techno's shoulder, Dream falling asleep with his head resting on top of Techno's. Philza stood, grabbing the ice that Dream was holding limply and setting it aside so it didn't make a mess somehow.

He walked over to Wilbur, who still hadn't moved his face from his hands. "Son?" he asked quietly, placing his hand on the brunette's shoulder. After a few shaky breaths Wilbur looked up at his father. Both of the males' eyes were slightly bloodshot. "Dad, I want to fucking _gut_ him." Wilbur's voice was a tad hoarse. "Me too." Philza agreed. Although he hadn't shown his anger earlier, he was practically filled with hatred now. Steve really shouldn't have messed with Techno, who had several very angry men over six foot on his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oop another chapter closer to steve getting beat into the ground :))
> 
> feel free to leave any feedback in the comments!! i love all of you and have a great day :)
> 
> also sorry if this chapter looks kinda weird ao3 is messing with my formatting for some reason :,,)


	17. take a break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> < a/n: so funny story- sorry for the lack of updates today, i tested positive for covid so that's not very pog champ >
> 
> tws: gender dysphoria, mentions of sexual assault, and stuff along those lines. stay safe cuties
> 
> i hope you enjoy <3

Techno woke up to his little brother laughing quietly and his tall friend saying something frustratedly. They hadn't moved since he had fallen asleep. Although Techno didn't realize it, they just hadn't wanted to wake him up.

"What are you guys laughing about?" Techno asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he sat up from his previous position slumped against Dream. "Well-" Tommy started, but the taller blond quickly cut him off. "Don't you dare," Dream trying to sound threatening just made the younger boy laugh harder. "Fine, fine." Tommy said finally, shaking his head slightly at the athlete.

"Techno can I- can I speak with you for a moment?" Techno moved his head to look at Wilbur, who had walked in. He looked exhausted, and his eyes were red. "Yeah, sure." The pinkette frowned, standing slowly and wincing a little. He had to walk slowly, but he was pretty much able to stay upright, occasionally using the wall for support as he followed Wilbur to the kitchen.

He leaned back against the counter, looking up at his ridiculously tall brother. "Are you- okay?" He asked, concern in his voice. He was only now realizing how far apart him and Wilbur had really drifted. In the past Techno would've probably just been able to tell what was wrong, or have some idea. But him and his brother had grown a lot since Techno had drifted away, and it showed.

"Yeah I'm fine, I just..." Wilbur trailed off, rubbing his face tiredly. "I'm really sorry." Techno was about to reply, asking why, but Wilbur was already speaking again. "I noticed you avoiding everyone and when you started acting weird. I thought something might be wrong but I didn't know what to really say." Wilbur paused again, looking away from his shorter brother. "I should've noticed that St- that he was acting suspicious." Wilbur looked down at his feet, shaking his head at himself. He couldn't even bring himself to say his ex-bestfriend's name. 

For those past several years Wilbur had told Steve everything, and he thought Steve told him everything too, but clearly not. He couldn't believe that for all that time, he had been hugging and laughing with and venting to his brother's literal rapist. It made him feel completely sick. But more than anything, it made him furious. He wanted to wipe Steve off the face of the earth. Slowly, and painfully. "I'm so sorry." He repeated, refusing to cry.

"Wilbur," Techno's frown deepened as he saw how upset his brother was. He hesitated for a second, before wrapping his arms around Wilbur. "I'm not angry at you. It's not your fault. You didn't know." He continued to hold his brother, despite the other still leaving his arms to hang limply at his side. "Even if you didn't know it wouldn't matter. You didn't do anything wrong. You can't... you can't blame yourself for what he did." The albino relaxed a bit when he finally felt Wilbur hug him back. 

"I love you." Wilbur said quietly. It had honestly been so long since Techno heard that from his brother. "I love you too." He replied happily, still holding his brother. It made the pinkette incredibly sad that his brother blamed himself for this.

They stayed like that for a little while, before Wilbur pulled back with a small smile on his face. At least he knew that Steve wouldn't hurt his brother anymore. Not after Wilbur was done with him.

"I've got to go talk to dad actually. But I'll see you later." Wilbur went to leave, before turning around abruptly. "Hey,, Have you been taking breaks while you were gone?" he asked, suspicion clear in his voice and on his face. Techno let out a small nervous laugh. "Uh- yeah..." The albino sighed at the look on his brother's face, who clearly knew he was lying. 

"Techno," Wilbur walked over, grabbing his small brother's hands. "I can hear your ribs begging for mercy. Please," he gave his brother a serious look, before letting go and walking to the door, once again turning around. "I'm serious. You're going to hurt yourself." He said, before leaving. Techno just rolled his eyes, though he knew he'd have to take his binder off soon so he didn't do actual damage to himself.

After getting a water bottle and taking a couple of sips he went to his room, sitting in the bathroom for a long while, before forcing himself to actually take of his binder. He let out a couple of quiet 'ows', taking a moment to gain his composure as he sat on the side of the bathtub. He pulled Dream's hoodie back on without looking in the mirror. After being flat for a long time he really did not want to see himself naked. Eventually he did look in the mirror though, cringing a little at his now slightly-visible chest. Although it was still a little concealed by the oversized hoodie. He absolutely hated when he was reminded of how his body didn't quite fit him.

He finally left the bathroom, grabbing some sweatpants and new underwear to put on from his closet. Just as he had finished tying the drawstrings of the sweatpants he heard a knock on the door, causing him to jump slightly. He walked over slowly, opening the door equally as slowly. He looked up, smiling at Dream, before the realization dawned on him that the blond hadn't seen him without a binder before. He then frowned, crossing his arms over his torso insecurely, unable to meet Dream's gaze. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay cause you've been gone for a little while, and-" he stopped, noticing the look on the albino's face.

"Are you okay? Y- oh..." Dream trailed off, his eyes briefly traveling down to Techno's chest for a split second as he realized the problem. "Sorry." The pinkette said quietly, somehow slouching even more than he usually did. "What? Don't apologize for your body-" Dream reached out to put his hands on Techno's shoulders, pulling him forward slightly so he could kiss his forehead. "This doesn't change anything." the blond smiled softly, reaching out to grab Techno's hand as they began walking back towards the living room. 

Techno loosened up a little, a small smile coming over his face. He had been worried about the way Dream would react even though he knew Dream knew he wasn't cisgender, but clearly he had no reason to worry. 

Once they arrived Tommy hastily turned away from the window he had been looking out of, shutting the curtain behind him. "Oh hey- let's uh- do you two wanna play cards?" Techno scrunched his face up at how weird Tommy was acting. "Yeah, let's play cards, how about go-fish?" The blond rushed over to pull out some cards and begin shuffling them.

"Why are you being weird?" Techno asked suspiciously, still holding Dream's hand. "What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about." Tommy said, making a face, like Techno was the one acting weird.

The pinkette then heard a bit of shouting outside, and a couple of loud clangs of heavy impact. "What-" Techno started walking toward the door, before Tommy grabbed his arm, pulling him back towards the couch. "Cards, Techno. Let's play cards."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a h next chapter it's going down >:))
> 
> feel free to leave all types of feedback in the comments!! i love y'all and remember to drink some water :)


	18. karma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: assault, panic attacks, yk yk. i love y'all and stay safe <3
> 
> i hope you enjoy :)

Wilbur and Philza sat in silence, neither of them speaking as they sat beside eachother on the front porch, both staring deeply into the road. 

Steve had gone to stay at a friend's house pretty quickly after Techno was 'kidnapped'. They didn't know if he would come back that day, but they wanted to be ready if he did. Philza had a baseball bat. Both men had boxing tape wrapped around their hands and knuckles, ready for a fight, and not exactly wanting to hurt themselves in the process.

After a little while of sitting in silence the familiar car pulled into the driveway, Steve getting out, expecting everything to be normal. As he walked closer to the door and began to realize that Philza and Wilbur didn't look happy at all he started backing away, turning around and going to walk back to his car.

Philza stood promptly, walking fast and stepping in front of Steve's car door, pressing the bat against his chest and using it to back him into Wilbur, who was now standing as well.

"Techno's home." Wilbur said, staring at his friend without any trace of the warmth he used to hold in his gaze towards him. Steve turned around to face Wilbur, clearly beginning to panic. Steve wasn't small, and he wasn't weak, but he clearly didn't stand a chance against Wilbur and Philza. Actually, he probably wouldn't stand a chance between either of them on their own. 

"Oh- is he?" Steve looked around nervously for an escape, though he couldn't find one. "He is." Philza answered, kicking Steve's knee from behind, causing him to fall to the ground. It was good that the sun was going down, otherwise people might see a very unpleasant sight.

Steve looked up from where he was now on the ground, staring up at the two men, who looked even more like giants than they usually did. He attempted to stand, only for Wilbur to place his foot on his chest, pushing him backwards onto the ground. 

"Wil, listen-" Wilbur promptly kicked him in the side, causing the other to let out a wheezy cry of pain. 

"Don't ever call me that." He knelt down, before spitting on the fearful boy's face. He stood back up, standing next to his father. 

"Listen, we're friends, we can talk about thi-" Wilbur kicked him in the side of the head that time, causing the other to cry out again and try to move away unsuccessfully. "No, we're not." He leaned down, placing one of his hands on his friend's throat for balance, using the other to punch him across the face.

Finally he backed away, Philza now coming forward, swinging the bat casually by his side. "I let you move in to our home. I treated you like a son." He moved the bat back abruptly like he was about to swing it as hard as he could. He smiled at the reaction from Steve, who covered his head fearfully. 

He didn't swing for a while, which led Steve to believe he wasn't going to be hit with the bat. Once Philza noticed the boy relaxing slightly he brought the bat down hard on his knee.

Steve almost screamed, but Wilbur stopped him by kicking his throat. The boy let out a strangled yell, his throat clearly now damaged. He tried to form words to beg, but he couldn't.

"I should crush both of your kneecaps." Philza spoke, before swinging the bat against the same leg again, prompting the same response from the boy on the ground. "We should break every bone in your fucking body." Wilbur added, pulling Steve into a sitting position by the collar of his shirt to punch him again, this time square in the nose. He punched him a couple more times, his eyes watering slightly. He tried not to think about all the memories he had with Steve. Although it was dark, Wilbur could tell his ex friend's nose was bleeding by the dampness on his hand.

By the time they were done one of Steve's legs was bent in several wrong directions, his nose was broken and pointing sideways, and his face was just unrecognizable. He couldn't open his eyes from the swelling of the bruises on his face. He could hardly make a noise from his crushed windpipe, his breathing extremely labored and audible.

Steve slowly sat up when he heard the door open and forced a smirk onto his literally bumpy, bruised face as hen heard a familiar gasp. 

"H-... He-y, bi-" he broke off into a fit of labored coughs. "-Bit-ch." He could tell that even this state he affected the albino, who was now being held and quietly spoken to by the blond who helped him escape the other day. He held the smug look on his face, until he saw Tommy nearly stomping over towards him from the doorway. He took the bat from his father. "You should learn to _shut the fuck up_." He swung the bat almost as hard as he could, putting Steve out cold.

"Oh-" Philza looked a little surprised at Tommy's action. He grabbed Steve's unconscious foot, dragging him off towards the road and down the sidewalk a little ways, Wilbur following along to help, pulling Steve by the hand. Neither boys made any effort to keep Steve from scraping against the pavement.

Once they drug him down the road a little ways the left him on a sidewalk, making their way back to the house. 

"Remember- if he dies or goes to the police, we had nothing to do with this." He told his two sons who were outside, eventually turning his gaze to his other son, who was standing in the doorway shaking and probably crying, judging by the way he was gripping Dream's shirt and the blond's soft, slightly sad expression. 

Philza watched the boy hold his son, playing with the pink hair softly and speaking gently, most likely to calm the albino. He still wasn't sure about this boy since he hardly knew him but he seemed to genuinely care about Techno. And Techno seemed rather smitten. So Philza figured he could stick around for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh it's not quite over yet there's gonna be a few more small bumps 👁👁
> 
> and dream will get his turn <3
> 
> anyways, feel free to leave feedback!! i love all of you and make sure to drink some water and eat something today :)


	19. two months

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: ptsd, medication, panic attacks, nightmares, yk yk
> 
> ily and stay safe and i hope you enjoy <3

Techno ended up sitting in Dream's lap on the couch for a while, pressing his face into the taller boy's neck as he tried to calm down and stop his tears. The way that the blond was rubbing his back and saying gentle affirmations in a hushed tone was definitely helping.

Tommy had tried his best to keep Techno inside without telling him what was going on, but of course he just had to know. His heart practically dropped out of his body when he saw Steve. Even though the pinkette knew that there was no way that boy would hurt him from where he was on the ground, his face essentially smashed in, Techno still couldn't help the panic that overwhelmed his nerves at the sight of him. 

It had sent him spiraling into a hole of painful memories, but Dream had quickly put himself in between the line of sight of the two, pulling Techno into a warm embrace, since that usually seemed to help. 

After a while the albino's tears subsided, though he didn't move from Dream's lap, staying leaned comfortably against the blond's chest. After a little while Techno's family came back in from cleaning blood off of themselves. Most, of all of it, was probably Steve's.

Wilbur and Tommy sat next to eachother on the other side of the couch, Wilbur putting his arm around his little brother. They were a little shaken from the adrenaline of literally jumping a person, but they didn't feel guilty or anything. Not in the slightest. 

Philza put on a movie and turned the lights off, going to sit in the loveseat, his look more contemplative than shaken up like his children. He was wondering if he should've smashed Steve's arms too. He figured he probably should've.

Dream honestly wanted to join in on fucking Steve up, but he couldn't just leave Techno in the middle of a breakdown. The albino needed someone to help him calm down.

After a couple more days, Techno finally went back to school. Steve wasn't there, so he was probably either dead or in the hospital. The albino didn't really care. As long as he's not around him and his family he's okay with whatever. He started helping Dream with school. The blond had become a consistent visitor at their house. Wilbur and Tommy really liked him. Philza was a little hesitant about letting people around his family now, but he eventually grew fond of Dream. It's hard not to.

After around a week post-Steve's disappearance Philza told Techno he scheduled him a therapist appointment. The pinkette didn't really want to go, but he knew that he probably should. The therapist suggested that Techno go to a doctor to get a prescription. In the end he ended up on three different medications and a post traumatic stress disorder diagnosis. He wasn't ecstatic about it, but he figured if it would help him get better then he should just put up with it.

Dream stayed the night frequently, though all he and Techno ever ended up doing was cuddling and talking. Sometimes they facetimed Dream's friends. Whenever Techno had a nightmare Dream was always so patient. He would just hold Techno and speak softly with him until he was able to go back to sleep, or until they were both awake enough to take a walk or just do something to get Techno's mind off of the nightmare.

Techno was shocked when he woke up one night to Dream crying quietly and shaking in his sleep. He glanced at the clock. It was nearly two in the morning. He reached over, trying to shake his friend (they still hadn't exactly become official) awake. But Dream just continued thrashing around occasionally, words coming out of his mouth that sounded something like desperate begging. And every now and then, it almost sounded like praying.

When Techno finally yelled Dream's name the other woke up, putting his hands out in front of him defensively, feeling like he was still halfway in the nightmare.

"Dream?" Techno was shocked, to be honest. He had no idea why Dream would be having such a terrible nightmare like that. The blond was sweating a bit, and there were tears occasionally falling from his eyes as he tried to even out his breathing. His glazed over look eventually came back to something resembling normal, though his thoughts still felt a million miles away. And more than that, his eyes looked haunted, almost.

"Dream-" Techno started again, but the taller quickly cut him off, rubbing his own eyes harshly to dry his tears. "I'm sorry- I didn't mean to wake you up." The blond didn't sound like he usually did. He didn't sound composed and a tad energetic, he sounded lost. And a little scared.

"What's wrong, baby?" Techno lowered his voice so it was softer, reaching out to wrap his arms around Dream. The blond eventually relaxed, resting his head on Techno's shoulder as the pinkette ran his hand through his messy curls. He just shook his head a little, refusing to answer Techno's question.

Eventually he fell asleep with his head in Techno's lap, who was still playing with his hair.

After that night Techno asked several more times what the blond was dreaming about, but he always avoided the question, and eventually Techno stopped asking. He didn't want to push Dream to tell him something that he didn't want to.

Almost two months later, things still weren't back to normal for Techno's family. It was getting better though, and everyone was happy about that. It was getting cold outside, and the weather reporters said there might be snow soon. 

Around that time was when a painfully familiar face showed back up at school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey lol remember how i said there was gonna be one more little bump 🤭
> 
> i looked it up and busted kneecaps take a little under two months to heal
> 
> anyways, feel free to leave feedback and all the such in the comments!! i love y'all :))


	20. encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: assault, knife violence, yk the vibes
> 
> drink some water and i hope you enjoy :))

Techno had been walking to lunch when it happened. He hadn't been at school for the first half of the day, since he had an appointment at the doctor to adjust his medication.

He saw someone leaning against the wall next to the bathroom door, their head hanging so their face wasn't visible. But he didn't think anything of it. The halls were mostly empty, but there were a few stragglers. It was lunch time, so Techno figured this guy was probably just waiting to meet up with a friend.

As he walked by though he was stopped, feeling an arm wrap around his wrist. He momentarily flinched out of old habit, but recovered a lot quicker than he used to. "Can I help you?" He asked, a little impatiently. He was supposed to help Dream with schoolwork at lunch today. The football season was coming to a close, and the team really needed Dream for their last couple of games. He got out his phone, about to text the blond and tell him that he might be a little late.

"Don't use that tone with me." Techno's soul basically left his body as he heard the voice. Steve was staring at him now, his grip on Techno's wrist not getting any looser. "Let go." The albino said, blinking away tears and trying to tug his arm away. He hadn't felt this type of primal fear in a long time, and he had almost forgotten how bad it caused him to shake.

"No. You don't get to make those decisions." Steve opened the door to the bathroom, pulling Techno in with him. The pinkette panicked, managing to send the word 'bathroom' to Dream before Steve grabbed his phone from him and threw it a good distance across the floor. "Don't try anything." He heard Steve say. He felt something cold and sharp press against his neck, soon realizing it was some sort of knife. The albino's eyes darted around the bathroom for an escape, but all he saw was Steve's same friend from before. He looked... angry. And excited, maybe.

"I-I'm not doing t-this again." Techno stuttered out, tears beginning to fill his eyes. He wondered if this was just a bad dream. Normally Dream would've woke him up by now if it was.

"Yes, you are." Steve's friend spoke as he came forward, pushing Techno roughly against the wall. Now that the knife was no longer against his neck he started trying to fight back, pushing at the boy in front of him, who he didn't even know the name of. The boy had began trying to pull of the albino's sweater, who was trying his best to not let that happen. 

"Steve I need your help." The boy spoke, sounding mildly inconvenienced, as if he had spilled his drink. Steve walked forward, but just then the door to the bathroom opened. Techno was trapped against the wall by Steve's friend so he couldn't see who it was, but he was praying it was Dream. Or someone he knew in general who could help him.

When Dream got the text with the singular word it immediately put him on edge. It was just really strange. He figured that Techno might be having a panic attack, so he checked most of the bathrooms as quickly as he could, before finding the one with Techno in it. And when he did, he was not pleased. Not in the slightest.

See, Steve was rather scared of Techno's family. But he was also scared of Dream. Because Dream had the balls to pick Techno up in a car while he was being hunted down by two boys older than him. And Dream was also a considerable bit taller than him. But Steve figured he shouldn't be too scared, right? He had a knife and a friend to back him up.

Techno stood on the balls of his feet so he could see over the boy's shoulder, a few years of relief falling from his face when he saw that it was Dream. He quickly became anxious again though when he remembered Steve had a literal knife.

He opened his mouth to say something to Dream, to warn him, but Steve's friend's hand quickly covered his mouth, muffling any words he said. Techno couldn't see what was happening all to well, but he could hear what was happened.

"You are the dumbest motherfucker I've ever met in my life." Techno wasn't sure he had ever heard Dream's voice like this. It hardly even sounded like the blond. He heard a loud noise, and judging by the cry of pain that followed it was Steve who had been hit. Steve's friend looked over his shoulder nervously, beginning to realize that Steve was not going to win this fight. "You-" Dream was cut off in a choked groan of pain, and Techno could hear the blade cut through fabric, and more quietly but still audible, skin.

The pinkette panicked, trying to get around Steve's friend and help Dream. He didn't know what to do, but he just wanted to do something. Techno heard the sound of someone falling to the floor, and then the sound of the knife being kicked across the ground, which he also saw from his peripheral vision.

"-You get your ass kicked by his family," Dream continued, his voice slightly strained. Techno saw blood dripping on the ground, which caused him to shake harder than before. "And you still don't have the fucking mental capacity-" He heard a loud thump and another cry from Steve. "-To know when to stop." Another thump, and another sound of pain.

Steve's friend finally let go of Techno, rushing out of the bathroom and abandoning his friend without even looking back. Techno immediately looked over at Dream, who had one hand over his side, blood visible. Steve was on the ground, a small look of panic coming over his face as he watched his friend leave him.

"He belongs to me." Steve spoke confidently almost, trying to regain some form of control over the situation. He scooted backwards a little, away from Dream. "He's not yours." Steve spoke again, using the wall behind him to stand up quicker. Dream stared blankly at him, before punching him quickly with his free hand, which caused Steve's head to knock against the wall behind him. Steve nearly passed out, falling to the ground and just barely managing to catch himself with his hands. 

"No, he isn't mine." Dream placed his foot on Steve's back, pushing him the rest of the way to the ground. "And he isn't yours either. It's not that hard to fathom that he's his own person. He's a human being, which..." Dream paused, his face twisting up to match the disgust in his voice. "...is more than can be said about you." Blood was still dripping from the wound in his side which he covered with his slightly shaky hand.

Techno was shocked, and a little scared. He had never actually seen Dream angry in any degree before. Sure, he had seen him frustrated at homework or Tommy endlessly pestering him.

Dream took out his phone, texting his groupchat with George, Sapnap, and Karl. 

[Dream: hey can you guys help me with something]

[Karl: what is it]

[Sapnap: can i bring my lighter?]

[George: Sapnap no]

[Dream: actually sapnap yes, you should bring your lighter]

[George: Wtfff]

[Dream: i need help putting the fear of god in some people]

[Karl: oh yes i will help]

[George: If we get caught I'm not taking the blame]

[Sapnap: WAIT I ACTUALLY GET TO BURN SOMEONE OML]

[Dream: two people actually]

[Karl: wait we're not killing them tho right]

[Dream: probably not]

[George: 'pRoBaBLy' ]

[Sapnap: damn you got the whole squad laughing]

Dream turned off his phone, turning to Techno, who was stumbling out of the bathroom. Once he was gone Dream turned back to Steve, giving him one last look. "Next time I see you I hope you're ready. Actually, no I don't. And make sure your friend knows he's not safe either." He said simply, before walking out to find Techno in the hallway, wiping his tears away. 

"Are you okay?" he asked the shorter quietly, who looked at him like he had grown another head. "Are you insane? You're literally bleeding!" Techno took a breath to calm himself, looking at the blood that trickled over Dream's fingers. "It's not deep. It's already almost done bleeding I think." Dream said quietly, looking away from the albino. "We should go." Techno said quietly, wrapping his arms around Dream's free arm, pulling him towards the exit. Since it was lunch time there was no one to see them leaving in the middle of the day.

Dream got in the driver side, despite Techno's protests. "I'm bleeding, not mentally impaired." Dream rolled his eyes at Techno, his demeanor a little more shut-off than usual. Eventually Techno sighed, getting in the passenger side. "Dream where are you going? Go to the hospital, jesus christ." Techno frowned, looking over at Dream in disbelief. "I'm fine. It's just a little cut." Dream kept his eyes on the road, still headed in the direction of Techno's house.

"Dream I'm serious. Go to the f-" Dream cut him off before he could finish. "I said I'm fine, Techno." His voice was a bit firmer than before. "What are you being so defensive about?" Techno scrunched his face up a little. Dream looked angry, taking a moment to calm himself and think logically before he said anything. Just the look on Dream's face alone caused Techno to shrink back into his seat, wrapping his arms around himself a little fearfully. Logically, he knew Dream wouldn't hurt him. But there was always that fearful reaction built into him these days.

"I'm sorry. I just- I'm okay." Dream lowered his voice purposefully. The thing about being physically abused, is it can cause anger issues, which was what happened with Dream. He still refused to let his anger out on Techno though. 

The pinkette just stayed quiet for the rest of the drive, still processing the encounter in the bathroom earlier and Dream's weirdly defensive attitude.

Once they got inside Techno lead Dream to the bathroom, grabbing some wrapping bandages and disinfectant from a cabinet. "I can do it myself." Dream said, looking down at the ground instead of Techno. "Dream, you aren't going to be able to bandage a cut right there properly by yourself." Techno's frown deepened. Something was really off. "Just take off your shirt so we can bandage it. Please..."

Dream stayed silent for a little while, before finally huffing out a very quiet "Fine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof yeah dream has issues but he's trying
> 
> anyways, feel free to leave feedback!! i love y'all and have a wonderful day <3


	21. childhood and summer camp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> { a/n: so u h apparently my blood oxygen level is doing funky shit and if it gets lower i have to go to the hospital so sorry if i ✨disappear✨ lmao }
> 
> chile anyways- tws: religious trauma (kinda), child abuse, injuries, stuff like that
> 
> stay safe and eat something <3

When Dream first took his shirt off, Techno didn't notice anything wrong. All he noticed was Dream's muscles and the bleeding cut on his side. He just looked... normal. The blond continued just staring into the distance, clearly not any happier about the situation than before. 

The albino just walked forward, moving Dream's arm in front of the blond so he could get to the cut and begin cleaning it. By doing that though, Dream has to twist his torso ever so slightly, exposing a bit of his back to the pinkette. Techno nearly dropped the bandages, just barely suppressing a gasp. Dream's freckled back was absolutely marred with scars. Some were thinner whilst some were rather thick and wide, some were raised, some were indented, and some were in the shape of a belt buckle. 

"Dream-" the blond cut the shorter off dryly, simply saying, "Yeah, I know." Techno fell quiet, trying to distract himself by cleaning Dream's cut. At least none of them looked recent. Still, Techno couldn't help but wonder how and why. Dream only winced slightly as his cut began to sting from being cleaned.

"The thin ones are from my mom. She uh- she really liked extension cords." Dream let out a humorless laugh. Techno still stayed quiet, grabbing the bandages now. "A couple of the belt ones are from my dad but most are from uh..." The blond fell silent for a little while, barely noticeable tears forming in his eyes. "Yeah uh... my parents sent me to a conversion summer camp thing when they found out about uh- yeah..." He rubbed his eyes harshly, only for new tears formed right after. 

Dream had only been twelve when his parents sent him away for the summer, always hoping for a straight son to come back for the school year. It never worked. They continued until he was fourteen, when he was then a bit too strong to be forced onto a bus he did not want to be on, going to a camp he did not want to be at. The camp was technically highly illegal, but it was easy to hide under the guise of freedom of religion. Especially when all of the victims of the camp had no family to back them up if they ever got the courage to speak. 

Dream couldn't help but let his mind wonder back to his lost summers. Instead of playing video games with Sapnap he was being beaten for talking back. Instead of watching tv with his parents he was being beaten for saying he wouldn't apologize for liking boys. Instead of relaxing with his dog he was being threatened with eternal damnation for being different.

"Dream?" Techno's voice brought the blond back to the present. He hadn't realized he had let a couple tears slide down his face until he felt the pinkette wiping them away. "Your parents beat you?" Dream shook his head slightly. "Only when I was younger. Before I was strong enough to fight back." 

Techno still looked just as appalled at that answer. "And they sent you away to be- to be basically tortured- for liking boys?" Dream just nodded in response that time. "It's okay though." He said quietly, feeling Techno stop bandaging him briefly to look up into his face very seriously. "It's not okay." He said firmly, wondering why Dream wasn't letting himself cry. "I know." the athlete replied quietly, his voice wavering. In reality, it was because at that godforsaken summer camp, they tried to beat 'manliness' into him. Crying was really, really looked down upon. And sometimes punishable.

Dream of course had no problem with other boys crying. But for some reason, he just never wanted to let himself. It was almost a habit at this point. Techno finished bandaging Dream's cut, glancing down at the bloody and torn shirt.

"I probably have one of your hoodies somewhere. I'll be right back." Techno turned to go grab one. In reality, he probably had four or five. He just really enjoyed wearing Dream's clothes, don't judge him.

He grabbed the first one he saw, coming back to the bathroom to find Dream sitting atop the toilet seat, his face in his hands. Techno noticed the slight tremor in his shoulders. He sat the hoodie on the counter, walking forward slowly. He placed his hand on the boy's shoulder for a few seconds, eventually moving it to run through the blond hair. 

The physical contact seemed to finally break the athlete down, as he started letting out quiet, very occasional sobs. Techno wrapped his arms around Dream's shoulders, who was still sitting down. The blond rested his head against the albino's upper torso. It was clear that Dream was still holding back, but at least he was getting some of this out. 

When he came back his friends tried to ask him where he went all summer. He always dodged the question though. The rest of his team never mentioned the scars in the changing room. Sometimes they stared briefly, but they never brought them up.

Earlier this year Dream had finally told his close friends Sapnap, George, and Karl. They told him that they were there for him and that they would come break him out of that camp this summer if they had to. They said that he could vent to them if he needed to, but he never did. He felt like maybe if he just ignored it then it wouldn't even effect him. He could just pretend it never happened. But no matter how good he got at forgetting, he could never get rid of the scars that wore deep lines into his back.

Dream was bad at dealing with his own feelings. He was better at just trying to take care of everyone else. It made things somewhat easier too. But it's harder to ignore your emotions when someone is trying so hard to help you with them.

So even though Dream would rather not cry he let himself cry softly into Techno's sweater as the shorter male told him it would be okay. The blond wasn't sure how much he believed that, but it sure was nice to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor dré :,((
> 
> feel free to leave feedback and anything else in the comments! i love y'all and have a great day <3


	22. Outdated Psa

Okay so there's this crazy bitch that keeps saying Dream is a pedo enabler, that Ninja is a pedo, and that Dream shouldn't be alive and a bunch of fucked up shit about him.

And she's like- fucking obsessed with George. She's sixteen, and she kept going on about how she would be a good girlfriend for George and nasty shit in general.

Anyways, the problem at hand. SomiMalek is threatening to post a Dream x Drista rape fic by Christmas. All I'm trying to do is inform you, and I ask you to not give her the attention she wants. Please don't comment or click on it, no matter how much you want to make fun of it or whatever.

Stay safe, and I'll try to get another chapter out soon. I love y'all <3

-Vile

update: nasty mf posted it so now we clown brothers

edit #2: it's been resolved and taken down

edit #3: hoe is back at it again <3


	23. love is not like that

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: mentions of abuse, injuries, you know the deal homies  
> stay safe and enjoy <3

Once Dream had managed to stop crying and regulated his breath better he still remained there for a while, his head resting against Techno's torso. Though he didn't mind how he absolutely drowned Techno in a hug usually, he was realizing how nice it was to be held.

"This feels nice." Dream said quietly, his eyes still closed and his face half squished against Techno, who was still massaging his scalp slowly. Dream figured it was probably messing up his hair, but he couldn't find it in himself to give a shit. It felt good.

"Yeah?" Techno asked quietly, smiling slightly. It felt awesome to feel Dream relax against him. "Yeah." The blond answered, almost feeling too relaxed to smile. He just felt so content. And safe, honestly.

After a little while they finally broke apart, Techno helping Dream into the hoodie since it was a bit hard to lift his arms without agitating the cut. Techno helped Dream stand, walking out of the bathroom and to his bed. Cuddling with Dream was really nothing new in the past couple of months. But what was new was Dream sort of laying on top of Techno, resting his head on the Pinkette's chest, a fluffy blanket draped over the both of them. 

A little while ago Techno probably would've felt crushed, but he had started gaining some weight back. Dream was still a mountain of a man compared to him, but once they adjusted so none of their bones were pushing into eachother uncomfortably, the pressure on top of Techno actually felt nice. He ran his hand through Dream's hair again.

"You know it's not your fault, right?" Techno spoke after they got comfortable, his voice soft as he glanced down at Dream. He only earned a heavy sigh from the blond as a reply, and a long beat of silence, before eventually a noncommittal sort of grunt. "Dream," Techno huffed, pausing for a few seconds. "It's- it's like you tell me. It's not your fault, and this doesn't change anything." He momentarily forgot to continue running his hand through the athlete's hair, earning a whiny noise of complaint in response.

"You're still beautiful." Dream tensed up a little as Techno said that. "It's not the same." The blond's voice was a whisper, and despite being over six foot, Dream sounded incredibly small. The blond tried not to think about how weak he was acting.

"It is the same." Techno focused more on running his hand over Dream's scalp than his hair, which almost immediately caused the taller boy to relax again. "What happened to you wasn't your fault, so it's not the same." The blond pushed back tears, not allowing himself to cry again.

"It wasn't your fault either, though." Techno frowned as he let his eyes wonder over his ceiling, resisting the urge to look down at Dream again. "You can't control whether you like boys or not... and your mom should not have been beating a child for doing shit that kids just do. Especially with a fucking extension cord." Dream had to close his eyes a little tighter to fight back the tears again. "She did it because she loved me." Dream wasn't sure how much he even believed that. But it was a phrase burned into his memory and easy to recite.

"That isn't love. Love isn't like that- it's not supposed to hurt you." Techno heard Dream let out a sob that he choked off halfway through, still adverse to crying. He moved one of his hands to run along Dream's back softly, the other still massaging his scalp. "I'll always be here for you, yknow? Any time you need to be held like this you can always come to me." Techno fell silent for a long, long time. He couldn't tell if Dream was crying or not, but he could tell that the taller was clearly still upset.

"I love you." Dream said so quietly, Techno half wondered if he had imagined it. After the initial surprise the albino smiled, going back to playing with Dream's curls yet again. "I love you too." Techno glanced down after he spoke, seeing the small smile form on the blond's face. "I can tell my friends that you're my boyfriend then, right?" Dream asked after a little while, the smile remaining on his face as he began to fall halfway-asleep. "Yeah." Techno laughed a little.

He turned his head to look out his window, watching as a very light snow began to fall. He laid there for a long while, petting his boyfriend's hair. He wondered what his siblings were doing at school. Hopefully they hadn't noticed his and Dream's absence from school. He briefly worried how his siblings would react if they saw Steve back at school. As much as he hated Steve, he didn't want his siblings getting criminal charges.

"Since we're not at school we should at least try to catch up on homework soon." Dream groaned unappreciatingly at Techno's idea. Dream hates schoolwork, and it's not like most of the classes he's required to take are going to help him anyway.

"A little longer." Dream pleaded in his stupid whiny voice. "Fine, just a little bit longer." Techno sighed heavily, though the smile never left his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i ain't been posting i was busy cause ✨christmas✨ and ✨coronavirus✨
> 
> remember to drink some water today and leave some feedback if you want <3


	24. to be fair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: mentions of steve?? idk i think that's it- 
> 
> stay safe and enjoy the chapter cuties <3
> 
> also i think i'm pretty much not sick anymore- but we shall see i guess

Eventually the two did get some homework done, though they still laid in bed for most of the school day, staying close to eachother. 

Techno texted Wilbur at some point, saying that Dream had taken him home so him and Tommy shouldn't wait for him. Wilbur just replied with a thumbs up, before Techno put his phone down and went back to showing Dream how to do a particular formula. Once they got it down Dream eventually stood up, leaning down to kiss Techno's cheek quickly. The smaller boy smiled, letting out a small laugh. 

"I gotta go somewhere. I'll be back after tomorrow though." Dream walked to the door quickly, before Techno hastily asked, "Where?" Dream kept his hand on the handle of the door, sighing and shrugging. 

"Dream, don't do some shady shit. Please. We're just now finally official, I don't want you in jail. Plus, your side probably hasn't even started healing yet." The pinkette spoke, his tone worried, to which Dream laughed slightly. "I won't go to jail. I promise." He opened the door, turning for a second. "Love you." The blond smiled. "Love you too." Techno sighed, smiling a little as Dream closed the door. He was definitely worried, but it's not like he can tell Dream what to do.

He slumped back into the bed after staring at the door for a little while, now staring at the ceiling. Despite his encounter with Steve earlier, he felt... surprisingly okay. Sure, he was shaken up. But he almost felt a little better. Like he had gotten it out of the way. And nothing too bad even happened, which made him feel like he could believe that nothing else too bad would happen.

He worked on some of his homework for classes that him and Dream didn't share while he waited for his family to arrive home. He heard the door open and he heard the distant voices of Wilbur and Tommy, though he felt a bit too tired to get up and go say hi to them.

He jumped a little when his door open, his face twisted up with slight confusion as he looked up at Tommy who was standing in his doorway. His little brother almost looked- nervous?

"Tommy? Are you okay?" The albino sat up in bed a bit, frowning. Tommy shook his head ever so slightly, not looking up at his brother. "Well come in." Techno frowned still, moving all the papers on his bed to the ground and scooting over to make room for his brother.

Tommy closed the door behind him, going to sit down next to his brother on the bed. "I saw Steve at school today." Tommy spoke quietly, glancing at his brother. 

"What... what happened?" Techno asked after some silence and carefully considering his words, glancing over at his brother. Tommy shrugged in response. "Wilbur had to go back inside to get something out of his locker and Steve tried to get in the car with me." Tommy let out a small breath. "The doors were locked though. And when he saw Wilbur coming back he ran pretty fast. His face was already a little fucked too, so I guess he's just been an antagonist in general today." The younger brother slumped a little, eventually leaning over to rest his head on his older brothers shoulder.

"I was just wondering if- if you saw him today? It seemed kinda weird how you got home so quick or whatever." Tommy spoke quietly, Techno just sighing in response. 

"Yeah, me and Dream saw him. We're okay though." He wondered if that was a lie. Dream's side had been slashed with a knife, and he had now disappeared to go do some mysterious shit. Techno had a feeling he knew, but he didn't want to think about it. He didn't want Dream in trouble, or in danger, so if he thought about it he would only further stress himself out.

"Speaking of you and Dream," Tommy's tone changed significantly as he sat up to look at Techno. "Are you two like,,  _ together _ together yet?" Tommy's smile was almost teasing, and Techno just groaned and rolled his eyes. He had sort of missed being annoyed by his little brother, though. "We are, actually." Techno's voice carried a hint of smugness. 

"Have you told Dadza yet?" Techno had almost forgotten how thick Tommy's accent was, despite the freakishly tall kid living in America for most of his life. 

"Not yet. I think Dream is still kind of scared of him, honestly." Techno shoved the younger's shoulder in response to his ever-growing smirk. "Big football man is scared of Dadza?" Tommy was clearly making fun of Dream. But ever since Dream had come around Tommy had been making fun of him. "To be fair, Dad did clock him the first time they met." Tommy let out an exaggerated sigh, flopping backwards to lay on Techno's bed. "Fair, I guess."

If things were different, he might've been frustrated with his younger brother. He might've huffed and rolled his eyes, and told Tommy to get out of his room. But in his time being isolated from everyone, he realized how much he cared about all of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> steve gonna get burnt soon i promise
> 
> anyway- feel free to leave any and all feedback!! i love y'all and remember to drink some water :))


	25. the homies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws: plotting to jump someone(??), mentions of harassment, yk yk
> 
> love y'all and remember to eat today <3

Dream knocked on Sapnap’s door lazily, taking out his phone to make sure he hadn't missed any notifications as he waited. Eventually his friend opened the door, a strung out George hanging off his arm. “God George, are you ever sober?” Dream rolled his eyes as he walked in, closing the door behind him. “God Dream, do you ever shut up?” Sapnap retorted, following his taller friend up the stairs, halfway carrying George.

“Why are you defending him? I'll fight you in the bathroom again.” Dream opened the door to Sapnap’s room, walking in and laying down on his friend’s bed. “And I’ll win again.” Sapnap closed the door, picking George up and kind of throwing him on the small couch next to Karl, who was on his phone.

“What the hell Sapnap I thought we were teaming up!” George didn't raise his voice as much as he would’ve if he was sober, though he still certainly did. “You're still stinky dude.” Sapnap unceremoniously pushes Dream’s legs out of the way so he could sit down.

“That's not even true.” George scoffed, leaning against Karl, trying to get the other to pay attention to him rather than his phone. “You smell like weed and Victoria’s Secret perfume literally all the time.” Sapnap scrunched his face up in distaste. “The perfume smell is from Karl!” George said defensively, finally getting tired of the other ignoring him and just taking his phone, attempting to hold it out of reach. “It's not my fault that's what the girls on the cheer team use. They don't want cologne in the dressing room.” Karl let out a frustrated sound, though he started laughing as he attempted to get his phone back. 

Eventually Karl ended up sitting on top of George’s stomach, his hand over the cackling brit’s mouth. “Anyways, we’re supposed to be arranging a hit mission or something, right?” Karl turned his phone off finally, though he didn't move away from George.

“Well guys- come on- we’re probably not killing them. I don't know about murder charges before we’re out of highschool.” Dream moved to put a pillow under his head so he could see his friends easier.

“Okay, okay, whatever. Let's just see what happens when we find him, and if the mood is right...” It was pretty impossible to tell if Sapnap was joking or not. He could be pretty crazy sometimes. His friends still love him though. 

“Do you guys know that Steve guy? That disappeared from school for a while?” Dream watched his friend’s facial expressions vary. “Ew- the creepy guy?” George pushed Karl’s hand off his mouth, before grabbing it and licking it, much to Karl’s displeasure, as he wiped his hand on the british boy’s shirt.

“He kept trying to get me to hand him Karl’s drink at a party one time.” George scrunched his face up slightly, speaking in a dead serious tone, as if he hadn't just licked his friend’s hand. “Yeah and he kept bothering me and George for literally so long that night.” Karl added, thinking back to the party.

“I haven't had any direct encounters with him but he's weird. His vibes are sooo bad.” Sapnap spoke after the other two, looking over at Dream, who was still laying down. 

“It's him and his friend that we need to fuck up.” Dream sighed heavily, moving to sit up. The other three shared a look, before all letting out somewhat quiet agreements. Dream wasn't surprised. His friends would probably help him with just about anything if he asked. Sometimes he wondered how he had gotten so lucky to get such good friends in his life. Not to mention he had an amazing boyfriend now, too.

“By the way, did I tell you guys I'm officially dating Techno now?” Dream smiled, the mood shifting considerably. “Pinky? Yeah you seemed pretty in love with him.” Karl had his arm around George now, who looked like he was in another dimension.

“But Dreeeam, now you can't kiss us!” Sapnap’s voice was exaggeratedly whiny as he put his hands over his face. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Dream laughed a little, scrunching up his face as he punched Sapnap’s shoulder, the other exaggeratedly falling off the bed.

Eventually once they got tired and had mostly planned everything out for tomorrow, they fell asleep with the light on, Dream in a sitting position with Sapnap laying across his legs. George was basically laying on top of Sapnap, Karl snuggled into Sapnap’s side. Despite how wholesome they looked at the moment, they would seem like completely different people by tomorrow.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> arsonnap soon i promise
> 
> feel free to leave anything you want in the comments unless it's like- bullying or mean or whatever-
> 
> love y'all and i hope you have an amazing day :))


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